Hikaru no Monogatari
by Forlorn Story Teller
Summary: Hikaru was mostly normal twelve years old, aside from he is a borderline shut in, lives with his grandfather and spending most of his time teaching said grandfather and his friends to play go. With his ghost go tutor worrying about his social UPDATE this week, delayed until 18/10/14 due to busy school work.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: If I own Hikaru no Go, it won't end after Hokuto Cup ;P but it did so it's not mine unfortunately.**

**Prologue: Heihachi's prodigious grandson **

Hikari used to be a bright and cheerful boy, but then tragedy struck and Heihachi knew he lost that lively boy his grandson used to be. Nothing had ever been the same since Mitsuko passed away in an accident and his son engrossed himself in work and left Hikaru with him. Hikaru turned to be a subdued child, and only small glimpse of his sunny disposition left.

Children could be cruel, that line couldn't be truer as his classmates started to bully Hikaru who had fallen to further depression. In the end Heihachi decided to homeschool Hikaru at the age of six. The old man didn't know it was a right decision or the worse he had done to protect his only grandchild. Hikaru became even more subdued and he seemed to lost interest in everything. In his desperation Heihachi in his genius old brain thought, starting to teach Hikaru how to play go was a brilliant idea.

The old Hikaru wouldn't want to play geezer's game, but present HIkaru wouldn't break his grandfather's heart, the only family who cared for him. So Hikaru learned basic of go, and engrossed himself in books because those are things Heihachi enjoyed and Hikaru wanted to enjoy it with him.

It was as simple as that.

Heihachi didn't know he should happy or not his only grandson that used to be so energetic used that extra energy on reading and go now instead of sport or playing. Hikaru wandered to the shack behind their house, intending to find more old molten books that was older than Heihachi himself. He thought his heart was going to jump out of his mouth when he saw Hikaru fainted beside the old goban his father claimed as goban of Honinbou Shuusaku.

Heihachi once again was clueless how to react when Hikaru told him, the goban was haunted and now the ghost was following him around. Heihachi couldn't see Fujiwara Sai, but to him a thousand years old ghost was more believable and likeable than the prospect of his only grandson had gone nuts for being cooped up at home for too long.

And go didn't lie, Heihachi would forever thanked God he had a chance to be tutored by the mentor of Emperor Keigo and Honinbou Shuusaku.

The ghost box he bought apparently was a real deal, and not simply a fancy looking radio as it really worked to transmit Hikaru's ghost friend's voice.

Hikaru was very thrilled to have another friend at home, one who loved go more than the life itself literally and could indulge him on lots of story from old forgotten literature of Heian era. Heihachi couldn't complain when Hikaru started calling Fujiwara-sensei as ani-ue and his speech became overly polite for someone his age and he refer to himself with watashi instead of boku or ore like any other Japanese boy his age.

Hikaru was eight when he gained an older brother that was one thousand years his senior, and a go mentor.

Unfortunately for Heihachi and even more for Hikaru, his beloved grandson had no intention to go pro for reason that… uh… Heihachi thought was a little biased, and while he understood where Hikaru was coming…

On second thought, let Fujiwara-sensei dealt with Hikaru's preteen teenage angst.

Unfortunately the ghost didn't succeed and Hikaru won't bulge from his decision.

_"I am perfectly fine with playing go with ani-ue and grandfather forever." _Hikaru declared, his eyes narrowed in disgust. "_I will never ever enter the same world as those men… They are the worse…" _

According to Fujiwara Sai-sensei on one of Hikaru's rare outings from Shindou residence, his grandson saw the wrong peoples in the wrong place, time and condition. He didn't elaborate further, but Heihachi was sure those long deep sigh was not the ghost box going error on him but Fujiwara-sensei's long deep suffering sigh.

_"He is growing up… Heihachi-dono, ten years old, acting like an adult while inside he wasn't…. he need to play other people, not just you and I! At this rate his go will hit a slump." _

And Hikaru did.

Heihachi's attempt to socialize his grandson didn't really worked, as apparently his grandson at this point was few centuries more ancient than any other boy his age. He was bright and composed, definitely not an ideal playmate for his friend's grandchildren. The play date ended in disaster, and Hikaru was awoken to the fact he was _ancient_ boy.

He didn't care, and Fujiwara-sensei berated him that he should care at least a little.

_"Ani-ue… I can live with the way I am."_

Heihachi never thought his grandson's go solution would be buying him a nice shiny laptop that gave him a chance to play Net-go online. But it worked wonder on Hikaru's go as he learned to play with other people and stayed anonymous in the same time. Unfortunately for Heihachi and their ghost instructor, HIkaru refused to type even a word whenever any net go player tried to chat with him.

It didn't take long for people to think that Kou was some sort of program instead of person, the fact that Sai whose playing style had similar distinct mix of ancient and modern was equally silent didn't help. It was no secret in Net-go that Kou who appeared a few months after Sai was his disciple, as Sai never failed to be in watch list (using different browser) whenever Kou was playing and always refused a challenge when he was watching.

In the end online players agreed that Kou was a human player with zero interest to talk.

Fujiwara-sensei decided this was the best they could get from his introvert grandson, a baby step but it was better than nothing. However as much as he loved his surrogate brother, Fujiwara-sensei voiced his frustration through the ghost box as Hikaru had no drive as a player at all. He played for leisure and to make them happy, no more no less. The problem was Hikaru had potential and Fujiwara-sense felt that if he kept going like this, that potential wouldn't bloom to its fullest and wasted.

Heihachi agreed, but he dreaded to plan another play date because the first ended in disaster.

Fujiwara-sensei was determined that to reach the Hand of God with Hikaru - Heihachi didn't know since when Fujiwara-sensei's ambition had 'with Hikaru' attached in it- Hikaru needed a rival. So Fujiwara-sensei convinced Hikaru to go outside for some refreshing walk, go to library and visiting go convention. Heihachi wished him a good luck, because lately Hikaru was playing him with five stones handicap and shidougo already. He was a pretty good player, above average with years of experience under his belt and Hikaru already played him as a mentor.

Heihachi was pretty pessimist there was anyone out there who was close enough in age to relate with Hikaru and with equal potential to make Hikaru even care for the said person.

He shouldn't have bet against Fujiwara-sensei, because at the third attempt that winter somehow Fujiwara-sensei managed to get Hikaru to enter a go salon (which was already a miracle on itself) and found a child his age to play with.

Of course reality was not as sweet as the novelty of finding your fated rival that written in fiction. Although judging from Fujiwara-sensei's long deep sigh, it could be summed up as a disaster instead of fated meeting.

The first time he and his supposed rival played, Hikaru went home with slightly disturbed look on his face but Heihachi could see doubt and a flicker of interest in competition in his eyes. _"He is really good… formidable player, but well…" _Heihachi decided it was the best to not push his grandson to reveal his opinion in this rival of his.

Touya Akira, where did he hear that name before.

Heihachi almost had a heart attack when on the next day he found out from latest release of go monthly that the boy who declared himself Hikaru's rival was the heir of Touya Meijin.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Hikaru and Akira **

Fujiwara no Sai would wholeheartedly admitted he loved his surrogate brother very much, and wished to share his dream with Hikaru. Perhaps it had something to do with being the fifth son of Fujiwara branch house who had four brothers who were busy making their career in politics and military instead of paying attention to him who made his career in go. His brothers and family were proud of him, that in spite of not walking in the way of sword, he was useful for their family prestige. They didn't share any interest with him, and in the end blood and business were all they had with him and never bond and familial love.

HIkaru was his only brother in everything but blood, Torajirou was a friend but he had never seen Toajirou in familial light. Hikaru was an adorable brother, and since he met the boy four years ago Hikaru ironically had been following him around like a puppy. Hikaru also grew his hair, a little pass his shoulder, he tied it in low ponytail and leaving the bleached part of his hair to frame his youthful face. Hikaru also prefer wearing kimono at home and acted as sophisticated as any courtier back in Heian era like Sai.

Sai was glad he managed to convince Hikaru to wear modern clothes when going outside, he got Heihachi to buy fashion magazine for Hikaru as reference. Hikaru was not the most fashionable boy though, he likes jacket and coat in muted color for winter, plain shirt or dress shirt with loose jeans or dark colored pants. Sai was pretty satisfied that Hikaru was out of nerd category in fashion. Hikaru was not amused with how Sai used knowledge he gained from using internet to catch up with modern times.

He didn't mind Hikaru wanted to be like him, but he was worried by Hikaru's lack of social life.

Sai wanted only the best for his otouto. So when he spotted a boy around Hikaru's age entering a go salon, he had jumped at the chance to bet on the unknown boy. He urged Hikaru to follow the boy, but off course his sweet _and_ stubborn brother responded smartly.

"Ani-ue… what _possess_ you to think following a stranger and challenge him to a game is a good idea?" That was a pretty ironic question, he admitted. "I have no interest playing face to face with anyone."

"Dear brother… it's my wish for you to learn playing face to face with someone other than Heihachi-dono and I." Sai admitted honestly, "And there's nothing wrong with trying."

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, his raven locks glinted under the sun as he inclined his head towards the ghost. "I am not interested… and my experience in interacting with children my age… I believe my performance was far from stellar." That was not a good reminder.

He tried again. "Hikaru… please, just one game! One harmless game! Shidougo or anything will do!" Hikaru sighed again, that was not a good sign especially because Hikaru was about to turn at opposite direction from the go salon. "If you do! I will recite 'Collection of Ten Thousand Leave' for you this weekend!"

Hikaru stopped mid-stride, his eyes were gleaming in happiness. "Really?"

Sai cringed; even though he was a ghost to recite the whole content of Collection of Ten Thousand Leave was going to make him feeling the phantom exhaustion. "Yes… any poem you wanted from that collection."

He almost regretted making Hikaru a historical literature buff, but it worked marvelously to bribe his brother. "Then what are we waiting for?"

"You, dear otouto…" Sai chirped as Hikaru entered the go salon.

Heihachi said Hikaru used to be so eager for everything, but these days it was hard to make him eager for anything that was out of his comfort zone. Well, go was his comfort zone but hilariously go salon was not. Sai could see it already with the way his surrogate brother behaved.

"Welcome." The counter girl greeted.

"Good afternoon." Hikaru greeted back, giving a respectful bow much to her shock.

He didn't know since when but if he was nervous Hikaru would start acting overly polite. Thankfully the woman recovered and instructed Hikaru to fill a form. Sai couldn't stop a smile from forming when the woman once again was stunned by his brother, this time because his brother somehow managed to use a pen to write his name as beautiful as well-crafted calligraphy.

It looked really glaring in the guestbook of that go salon.

"Level? I am not sure." Hikaru admitted.

His brother won't be caught dead revealing his online player level, and Sai had to admit that was wise. Hikaru was Kou, second most famous online player and disciple of the strongest. Sai himself was pretty unnerved with how obsessed some peoples were to find him. It was fortunate the Net go admin acted quick, unwilling to lose Sai and Kou they promised to do everything so Sai and Kou won't be traced and their privacy were assured as long as they played in Net-go. Sai thought they were very nice, Hikaru disagreed because they were the goldmine of Net-go so it was given for the admin to do anything to keep them happy.

That was why Sai wanted Hikaru to interact with people outside from his small circle of family, HIkaru was cynical and too distrusting of other people. The problem was, Hikaru was reluctant to try.

Sai was pleasantly surprised when the boy he spotted before stepped forward to see what occupied the counter girl. Hikaru in the other hand looked like deer on headlight for a moment before he regained his composure.

"Oh, Akira-kun! This boy is new and looking for an opponent to play with." Sai thanked the girl, since she was pretty much offering Hikaru to this young Akira to play go with.

The boy looked eager, and Sai was pleased. "Would you like to play with me?" He noticed Hikaru was still looking around the salon so he added, "Don't be so nervous…"

Hikaru smiled sheepishly, "This is my first time in go salon…" He admitted before glancing at the cashier, Ichikawa-san. "So the fee…"

"It's 500 yen for children." Ichikawa informed the raven haired boy.

Hikaru was about to pay but Akira stopped him. "Since this is his first time, let him play for free."

Ichikawa touched her blushing cheek, _'Akira is so kind!' _She also could tell Akira wanted to encourage this Shindou Hikaru to play. _'He needs friend his age and hopefully this boy is the one… Shindou-kun is polite and a little awkward but it seems he will get along nicely with Akira-kun.'_

Unknown to Ichikawa, Hikaru was very skeptical at the prospect. _'This is a bad idea, Sai.' _

_'No, it's not.' _Sai disagreed, '_You will get along just fine with this boy.' _

_'Huh? I am talking about the game…' _

_'Oh! Yes! I mean… it's very possible this boy is pretty good! Just play one game and you will know!' _Sai corrected himself hastily. To be honest Sai, as unbelievable as it was, he didn't really care Akira was good or not. He'd rather this boy befriend Hikaru first, as go skill could come later. In Sai's opinion Hikaru was a very good tutor to his grandfather, in fact if there was one thing Hikaru was better at than Sai in go, it was shidou go. So if Akira could be HIkaru's friend, his go could catch up later.

"I am Touya Akira, I am twelve years old… nice to meet you." Akira introduced himself politely.

"I am Shindou Hikaru." Hikaru returned, "Twelve years old, nice to meet you too."

Akira perked up, "So… how good are you?"

At that question Hikaru tensed instantly. "Ah."

Akira realized that seemed to be the _wrong_ question to ask to Shindou Hikaru. "I… mean…"

Hikaru regained his composure and smiled. "I guess I am decent."

Sai who was hovering beside Hikaru winced, _'Hikaru!' _

"Ah, I see… I am pretty decent myself." Akira responded awkwardly as they checked their goke in the same time. Akira got white while Hikaru got black. "Then."

"Then." They began almost in the same time.

**"Why don't you put down four or five stones." **

Their eyes widened when they realized they both offered handicap to their opponents in the same time. "Ah."

Sai began to weep, _'Hikaru! Touya-kun! Why of all things to say to start your game…' _

Neither of them meant to be rude, but what they said just now as go player counted as rude because both underestimated their opponent and offered to play with handicap.

The patrons who played nearby would have said something usually but they realized both young players became frozen stiff by their unintended rudeness. So they didn't say anything in fear they would make it worse.

Akira tried to salvage the awkward situation, "Nigiri?"

"Oh, okay." Hikaru placed one stone on the board.

Sai sobbed in the background, _'Don't just go with the flow and decided to nigiri instead! You guys supposed to make friends with each other!' _Then again for two boys who just met, Sai had to admit it was amazing enough they somehow could come to a silent agreement to ignore their blunder so quickly.

Akira separated two stones from a handful he placed on the board, six stones so he got black and Hikaru played white. "Your guidance please." They exchanged the greeting with a low bow, which if anything was too formal for a casual game.

The observers, namely Sai and a pair of old men playing nearby sweat dropped.

Hikaru took a deep breath and began with upper left kosumi. _'Just play…and don't think too much about anything else but the game…'_ Hikaru looked up from the board and realized his opponent was deep in thought, already planning his first move? "On second thought... about the handicap." Hikaru trailed off as he placed his first stone on the board. "Can we didn't use komi instead?"

Akira blinked owlishly at that, "I don't mind..." In exchange for handicap he'd rather not using komi? "But I am playing black..."

Hikaru nodded, "I want to try playing like go players one thousands years ago... no komi."

That was an odd reason, but Akira became curious because even before the game started this boy had piqued his interest. Playing go with old rules made it even more interesting.

"Sounds interesting." Akira smiled back.

Akira observed his opponent ten hands later, _'He is a little slow but the way he places the stone is elegant like a master… he was being modest to say he is decent but he is also pretty confident in his skill to offer me four moku handicaps.' _Akira thought as he placed the next stone, claiming 5-13 spot. _'But I still can't measure how good he is.' _

_'I still can't tell what kind of player he is just from this.' _Hikaru thought with a sigh. '_Subtle but sharp perhaps?' _

Sai was really tempted to whack both go prodigies upside their heads with his fan. He could tell they were confused why they couldn't put a finger yet on their opponent's skill level. _'That's because both of you try to play shidou go! Overconfident brats!'_

Never in his one thousand years as go player to see two players attempting to teach each other in shidougo, and his disciple somehow managed to do that outrageous thing with Touya Akira.

Hikaru of course didn't notice Sai was sulking beside him, too engrossed to read the game and his opponent.

_'His move is solid… he is good, I know that much at least but…' _Akira glanced at his opponent, _'The way he plays is odd… he mix some Shuusaku's signature move to boot. That's unusual…' _His eyes narrowed, _'In that case, I will start to attack.' _

Pachi.

'_Ah, he attacks my left upper cluster.'_ Hikaru thought, _'Does not matter…' _

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Akira's eyes narrowed, _'He knows I am attacking now but he didn't bulge, a defensive player?' _He shook his head mentally, _'No, a player like that won't be so bold to offer me handicap. I have to push harder. _

Another ten hands later, Akira was confused by his opponent who had stopped for five minutes instead of placing another stone. It was an odd point to contemplate his move now as Akira had been relentlessly attacking for quite some time and Hikaru didn't even bat an eye. Nothing drastic happened on the board yet so Akira found Hikaru pausing now as odd.

Sai rolled his eyes, _'This boy is exceptional… now if only Hikaru can come out of his shell and play seriously…' _He looked at his disciple who was tapping his chin with his fan, and Sai fought his urge to bite his kimono's sleeve. _'You have no intention to do that at all, huh! Hikaru!' _In the end he did bite his kimono's sleeve in frustration.

Akira perked up when he saw Hikaru lowered his fan and set it aside, and much to his confusion Hikaru took a very long deep breath and exhaled.

PACHI!

He almost jumped at how sudden another white stone had been placed and moved to pick a stone from his own goke and responded.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Five hands later Akira swallowed, _'And now he is in hurry! Why? This is not speed go!' _However for some reason Akira also sped up his pace to match his opponent.

Half an hour later…

Hikaru stood up from his seat, leaving his opponent gaping at the goban that filled with white and black stones. "Thank you for the game, my apologies but I need to go back now."

Akira stay rooted to his seat, not listening as he mentally recounted the result of the game. It was still the same.

Ichikawa smiled at Hikaru, "Hi! Are you done?"

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, it's a good game…" He said with a wistful smile, "I have to go home, it's almost my curfew."

Ichikawa raised an eyebrow at that. It was four in the afternoon now, too early even for a twelve year old boy. "I see, then… "

"Good bye." Hikaru said as he moved to exit the salon, but managed to take a brochure that grabbed his attention before he left.

The young woman sighed, "Hum… he lose?" She guessed why he was in hurry. "My… too bad, it's fifty years too early for him to beat our Akira-sensei." She said with a smug and fond smile. "I wish he will come back again but well…"

"That boy and Akira-sensei is WHAT?!"

"That's impossible!"

"He plays white…"

"What the heck is this game?!"

In midst of that commotion Akira stayed silent, too shocked out of his mind to notice the patrons of go salon.

* * *

**Outside of the salon **

Sai groaned as he heard hell broke loose inside the salon and Hikaru sprinted towards the nearest train station as if the god of death himself was chasing them. "I told you to not to do that again! Hikaru!"

Hikaru slowed down as he tapped his train pass, before he broke to another sprint towards the train. "Why shouldn't I?" Hikaru asked with a sigh as he walked towards secluded corner of the train that would allow him to speak to Sai freely. Mind link was a good way to talk but it was tiring and sometimes he spoke out loud without noticing it.

"I told you _repeatedly_ why!" Sai scolded in frustrated tone. "No one is happy if you end the game like that! And it's disrespectful!"

Hikaru averted his eyes from Sai. "I know but…"

"That boy is an exceptional player!" Sai pointed out gently, "You don't have to do that! I am sure he can take your worse!"

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "I know that… I know he is good, but I am just… can't…"

"You can't or you won't?" Sai asked the dreaded question and Hikaru as usual didn't answer it.

The rest of the trip home was spent in silence.

**Back in go salon **

"A forced tie?!" Ichikawa echoed in shock, "But that's…"

Akira nodded numbly, "A pro level skill…" Akira swore ten hands before the game ended, the last time he did a quick count of territory he was leading by two moku.

"Isn't that harder than winning?!" An old patron mumbled.

"And that's mean… he could have…" Another trailed off

"SHHH!" Another silenced him quickly, giving discreet glance at Akira.

Akira trembled in shock, _'And that means he… he is… in a level above me, who is he?!'_

* * *

**Shindou's Residence **

Heihachi sipped his tea as he waited his opponent's turn. "Aah… that hits the spot."

His old friend, Eiki grinned as he placed his tone. "Take that, Shindou."

"Hn." Heihachi grunted, "You're fifty years too early to think you can beat me, Eiki!"

Towa and Heiji, who were playing on goban beside theirs sighed in unison. "Yo guys are fifty years too old to challenge each other like hormonal teenager."

"Humph!" Heihachi huffed, "I am not boasting, you have to admit it's me… who is the strongest go player here!"

"Because your grandson, Hikaru-sensei tutor you all the time! Shindou!" Eiki scowled, "Half of your accomplishment is Hikaru-sensei's!"

Heihachi scoffed, "Now now… Hikaru is a good teacher, but in the first place I am also a good student to get this strong." He boasted. "And again… I told you, Hikaru teach us but he didn't like to be called sensei."

"He deserves it though…" Heiji sighed wistfully, "You're a lucky grandfather, Heihachi… a polite and smart grandson who is a genius go player."

Shindou's residence since Sai's appearance became a pseudo go salon, mainly to satisfy Sai's craving for go without Hikaru needing to go outside before they discovered about Net-go. Heihachi was also more than happy to bring his friends to enjoy go together as often as they could in their old days. All of them were fond of his beloved grandson and looked up to the young prodigy. There were six of them but today only four of them were free to spend the day playing.

Then again Heihachi blamed them and himself for being the main circle of Hikaru's social life, his grandson needed to play with children his age and not with geezers. If only Hikaru was willing to be an insei, or going pro… or at least joined a go tournament… They tried to convince him but Hikaru never gave in. All of them had soft spot for him so they could never be persuasive with the young prodigy.

Towa sighed exasperatedly, running his fingers through his graying hair. "Speaking of which… where is Hikaru-sensei?"

"He went to buy book and wood polish…" Heihachi informed them. "And perhaps he also goes to check out some go salon." In unison all of his friends looked at him expectantly. "I hope so; the area I asked him to go is full of go salon…"

Eiki sighed exasperatedly, "It's a pity… his go skill is like god's gift to go world." Heihachi rolled his eyes, here Eiki went again with worshipping his grandson. "And yet… he has no wish to be a pro at all."

"Let's don't jump to pro first." Heihachi said as nodding sagely. "I would rather to see him learning to play normally again without forcing tie ten out of ten games."

They nodded in agreement, "Aah… but in a sense since he is very good at it, ironically his skill improves tremendously because of that too." Towa pointed out.

Heihachi grunted. "It's not like my grandson forgot how to win." In fact Hikaru still play to win online, because he didn't see his opponent face to face. However when it comes to playing for real, Hikaru avoid to win like it was a plague.

"But since he never lost when playing with us means he is not eager to lose either." Eiki gave his two cents. "That's a relief at least."

Towa and Heiji eyed him with a wry look on their face. "You do know Hikaru-sensei didn't play us for real for two years already, there's a reason he is getting so good at shidougo."

Heihachi nodded, "Yeah… my grandson is a prodigy in go but he is even more genius in shidougo."

They nodded sagely again, "He would be a wonderful teacher once he becomes a pro."

"If that ever happen in the first place…" Heihachi grumbled. "I wish…"

"That's not going to happen." A familiar young face said tonelessly.

As one the four old go players jumped in shock when Hikaru slid the shoji door open with a tray of tea and snacks in hand. "I bought komugi, the sweet shop is newly opened so I don't know it's good or not." Hikaru said as he placed the tray on the nearby short table. Then before he closed the door he gave them a benign smile and said, "If you need me for shidougo, I would be at my library."

And the door slid shut.

Heihachi was the first one who broke the silence that caused by his grandson's abrupt entrance. "Hikaru, my boy… what should I do about that stubbornness of yours?"

No one answered him, and they continued their game as if nothing had happened.

That night Heihachi asked Hikaru about his first trip to a proper go salon, and he was pleased to hear that Hikaru found someone his age who was an exceptional go player.

"He is a formidable player, but well…" Hikaru clenched his fist, recalling the look on Touya's face when he forced the game to tie. "I don't…" He looked down to his lap, hiding his expression from his grandfather.

"Hikaru…" Heihachi looked at his grandson sadly.

The ghost box emitted static noise before Sai's musical voice echoed, _"Hikaru… that's a close game, and you know it." _

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, I know… ani-ue."

Sai narrowed his eyes at Hikaru, and he could tell both he and Hikaru realized for the first time since Sai appeared Hikaru was _almost_ pushed to his limit. In fact Sai could see Hikaru was very close to lose control of himself and almost went to kill at yose before he caught himself and let Touya Akira to get back some of his territory to get the game ended in a tie.

Then again aside form that split moment in yose, Hikaru didn't play seriously at all and treated the game as a shidougo. Touya Akira was a prodigy too, but it seemed he was still below Hikaru at this point. Then again it was Sai's personal opinion, because Hikaru didn't push Akira too much it was hard to tell what the other prodigy would do when cornered.

_'But… after what happened back then… I am not really sure either if I want Touya-kun to push him too far.' _

He had no wish to repeat that incident that caused his disciple to be the way he was now. Then again, he was betting on that boy to be Hikaru's friend, but could he trust Touya Akira to be Hikaru's rival? No, he was not sure at all about the latter.

When he was resting in his bed room alone, Sai eyed his disciple carefully. "_Hikaru…" _Sai called and the young go player looked up to him, turning his attention away from the book he was reading. _"Regardless of the outcome and everything else, did you have fun playing with Touya-kun?" _

Hikaru swallowed as he averted his eyes. "Uhm…"

He hesitated, and Sai wondered if it was a good sign. No, it WAS a good sign because if it wasn't Hikaru would have voiced his disinterest at a drop of a hat. _"So you have fun!" _Sai said in his place.

Hikaru didn't refute him, flushing a deep red. "Forget it."

No way, he won't forget Hikaru's adorable blush because Sai got a strike for guessing that he had fun playing with Touya right.

"I will get stronger so I can help ani-ue to achieve the hand of God together." Hikaru stated with conviction as he put his book back to the shelves. "Everything else… Touya, becoming a pro, or anyone else's go… means nothing to me."

_"Hikaru…"_

* * *

**A month later…**

**In another side of Tokyo **

Sai was giddy at the thought of watching Japan's future generation of go and Hikaru was more than willing to come watching it to boot! Then again Hikaru loved watching game of go as much as Sai did, it was the next best thing after playing the game themselves.

_"Look Sai! So many children and some are younger than me!" _Hikaru exclaimed through their mind link.

Sai nodded eagerly, _"It's wonderful!"_ He sighed wistfully, "_One thousand years ago, now and in the next century… we will see new generation reaching a new height!" _

The ghost couldn't help but smiled when he saw childish glee in Hikaru's eyes as he watched dozens of goban in rows, different game and different players creating different monochrome galaxy.

"Uwaa…"

At the time like this he looked just like any other twelve years old boy.

It would be better if Hikaru was willing to join it too, but perhaps with Hikaru's skill level it was not a good idea. Unless most children in this competition was at least half as good as Touya Akira. That boy was one in a million just like his Hikaru. It was a pity Hikaru was reluctant to go back to that go salon. Then again it was Hikaru's fault in the first place to force the game to a tie and throw that go salon in chaos.

Sai couldn't argue that there was no way Hikaru could show his face again in that salon. At least in spite of his stubbornness Hikaru had decency to feel ashamed to throw a match he could have won, and to an opponent whose level was the same or close to him to boot.

"Hm." Hikaru noticed there was a corner where a number of goban were unused and there were children laying around there but not playing. Getting curious of the unusual sight he came closer, poking his head to look at the secluded corner. Then he overheard one of the staff talking with his colleague that the low dan pros they called for this event cancelled at last minute because of urgent business. In the first place this mini tutorial corner was not really a priority as most people visiting would be competitors and parents. They didn't expect children who had lost wandered here in hope they could get advice from pro players. There was nothing they could do but informed the children and left.

_"Hikaru…" _ Sai sang as looking around, _"This place is pretty secluded and no staff is paying attention to it." _

_"So?" _

_"Oh come on Hikaru… these children lost their game! And they wished for guidanc to get better!" _Sai narrowed his eyes as tapping his chin with his fan. _"How could you deny them that when you could give them what they need?" _

_"But…" _

_"You're itching to play, ne? Watching these kids playing make your fingers itch, ne?" Sai pushed on. "It's shidougo! Hikaru, it's your specialty!" _

Hikaru perked up at that, it never failed to make him feel warm and tingly whenever Sai praised his tutoring skill. He took a deep breath and approached a group of three children; all of them were younger than him and looking at the older newcomer with curious eyes.

**Meijin's go salon **

Ichikawa and patrons of Meijin's go salon were worried about their young prodigy, because since that game Akira came by every day and replayed the same game over and over again. Then he would stare at the empty chair in front of him and had this sad look that pained them. Akira was still waiting for that boy to return.

"Akira-kun… is still waiting for that boy?" Kasuga, one of the frequent customers said.

Ichikawa nodded, "Yes… he will sit there for hours, waiting for Shindou-kun."

Akira bit his lower lip as he analyzed the game he replayed more than any game he ever had in his ten years as go player. _'This hand… and that one too… it's undoubtedly shidougo until halfway no… a bit later than that he started to play to even the moku.' _Akira swallowed, _'But… I didn't notice at all until we count our territory and his irregular change of pace…he… is planning this all along, it's really a genuine forced tie.' _

**Back to go's competition hall**

A seven years old boy squinted really hard at the board, it was the game he just lost and replayed so he could find how to turn the favor. "Ugh… ne, nii-chan! Are you serious I can still turn this game around in yose? My opponent have eight moku lead!"

The older boy nodded, "Look closely… try to think outside of the box and see the path."

The younger squinted harder and he noticed his temporary tutor was looking at specific spot on the goban. It was a group of dead stones of his, and he couldn't see how it could help him. "Oh!" He exclaimed before he reached out for his goke and placed the stone. "There!"

"Very good." The older boy said as he reached out for his own goke and responded. "There, judging from your opponent's skill level he is going to respond like this."

The seven year old boy, Takeshi pouted. "Ugh… "

"I will be right back." He said quickly.

Takeshi nodded. "I will get it right! Hikaru-niichan! Watch!"

Hikaru chukled softly before he moved to the goban next to Takeshi's. "How about you? Ai-chan?"

Ai, a ten years old girl shrugged at him. "Uhm… I can't decide which is better 3-4 or 4-6… uhm… 3-2 then!" She decided.

Hikaru shook his head as he tapped his fan on the other spot. "Look closely… if you put it there you're opening a way for your opponent to attack this eye, and the cluster over here would be threatened too…"

"Oh…"

"3-2 gains you more moku, but it make you open for all frontal attack as well." Hikaru explained

Ai nodded eagerly, "I see! Thank you Hikaru-niichan!"

Ai's mother clapped from where she stood behind Ai. "My! You're really good sensei! Ai! Call him sensei, he is young but he is a sensei."

"Actually I am…" Hikaru trailed off.

Kouta's father, the other boy who was still struggling on problem Hikaru laid out for him laughed at his discomfort. "You're an insei? It's just about time to call you sensei!"

Takeshi's mother nodded in agreement. "Give us your contact number! You're handling my impatient and energetic son much better than any pro I ever asked to come to tutor him! Sensei!"

Hikaru blushed a deep red. "Ah… I am not an insei either…"

They gave him a wide eyed stare but shrugged. "Humph!" Takeshi's mother harrumphed. "If you can teach this good without pro certificate, I would rather hire Shindou-kun instead of those pro who can't keep my son to stay still! They bored him!"

Ai's mother nodded in agreement. "I guess being a pro doesn't mean you're a good teacher! Shindou-kun! You really have to give us your contact number! Ai enjoys your teaching and I will hate to put her with a pro tutor again…"

Hikaru sighed inwardly, at first he just wanted to give a couple of tips but somehow he was carried away with shidougo and these three kids won't let him go. "Uhm…" It would be nice to have kids to teach, they were more fun to teach than his old friends. No offense to grandfather and his friends. He took out a small note from his backpack and wrote down his house and email address. "Here… my house is no go salon but we have study session every weekend in the morning at 10." He informed them with benign smile on his face. "Just send me an email beforehand if you're interested."

Ai's mother took the note, "My! Your home is not far from our apartment complex! It should be no problem for us to drop our children in your place every weekend."

Ai and the other two children perked up. "Really?! Hikaru-niichan will teach us from now on?!" They asked enthusiastically. "Yay! No more boring go class!"

"Ha ha ha…" Inwardly Hikaru felt a little sorry that he perhaps had made a couple of pro lost their tutoring job. His ears perked up when he heard his phone ringing, so he excused himself to pick the phone. "Moshi, moshi… ojii-san? Cabbage and egg? Oh… so we're having okonomiyaki tonight? I get it, I will buy it on the way home." He checked his watch and cringed. "Uhm, I am sorry but… I really have to go to buy dinner for my grandfather."

The children let out disappointed noise, whining childishly. The parents quickly assured their children that the tutoring session would be continued on the weekend. Hikaru himself was also looking forward to tutor them again, it was really fun!

_"But it's unfortunate Touya-kun is not here…" _Sai said in teasing tone.

Hikaru was on the way out from the hall, averting his eyes from Sai. _"I am not looking for him." _

_"Well… since you can't go back to that go salon, you actually came here in hope you can see Touya-kun again." _Hikaru didn't answer, _"You know… if you're going to behave like this you shouldn't play him like that in the first place." _

_"I know but I… can't help it." _Hikaru murmured.

_"Anyway Hikaru! Now we will have those kids playing go at our house!" _Sai cheered, _"It would be so fun!" _

_"Yeah!" _Hikaru agreed.

**Back in go salon **

"Come to think of it…" Ichikawa tapped her chin, "Shindou-kun grabbed that go competition brochure before he left."

Akira perked up at that and Ichikawa was sure she had never seen Akira moved that fast. "Competition?! Brochure?"

She had never seen he was this enthusiastic to the point he babbled his words instead of forming coherent sentence. "Uhm yes… it's children go competition that held this week." She crossed her arms. "Maybe he is there?"

Akira quickly made up his mind and ran towards the exit of go salon. "Ichikawa-san! If Shindou come, please don't let him go!" And he made the hastiest exit Ichikawa had ever seen.

Hirose-san, one of the patrons looked at the closed door in worry. "My… I have never seen Akira-kun behaves like that." Ichikawa said with a sigh, "I wish Shindou-kun return and be friends with him."

Hirose shrugged, "Well… this is the first time Akira-kun met someone his age who could match his skill."

Ichikawa frowned at that, _'Actually… since Shindou-kun could force a tie from Akira-kun, isn't that mean he is a better player? But that's… '_

* * *

**Back at the go competition **

"Let me repeat this again." Ogata, the blond high level pro, eternal challenger of Honinbou and student of Touya Meijin gritted out. "There is a kid, teaching three kids in secluded corner meant for tutoring session that cancelled because Touou pro cancelled it at last minute… insanely good at shidougo to the point their parents would choose him over pro player to teach their kids, and all you did is watching the tutoring session in awe…"

The staff, a middle aged man by the name Kozou-san nodded. "Hai… Ogata-sensei."

"And it never crossed your mind to ask for that boy's name? Or even stop the parents from leaving so you could ask them that address he gave them?" Ogata asked incredulously. "Unbelievable! I can't believe an employee of go institute let go of such a brilliant child!"

"Ogata-kun?" Touya Meijin, the strongest Japanese go player entered the room. "I heard the commotion already… so a child who might be in Akira's level appeared?"

Ogata shrugged, "Not sure… all they have seen from this kid is his shidougo, and that could mean…" He trailed off with a long sigh. "He could be better than Akira."

"Hm…" Touya Meijin crossed his arms, "I see…"

"And they let him go." Ogata gritted out. "What a waste…"

"Hm… but if this boy is that skilled, one way or another… he will show himself to us pro players sooner or later." Touya Meijin stated with conviction in his eyes.

**Outside of Train Station **

Hikaru hummed, he was lucky to find a small grocery shop on the way to train station. He also found a bazaar, where he found someone selling lots of old book with cheap price. His hands plastic bag of grocery and one big paper bag full of books. They felt like they were going to come off though, but he was too happy to care.

Sai looked at Hikaru in amusement. _"Hikaru… I think you bought almost half of books from that stand." _

"Yeah." Hikaru agreed. "I even found a first edition of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle! I can't believe it!"

_"Hikaru… I believe you're fit to be called a nerd at this point." _Sai had learned a lot of new words from internet.

"Who cares! I am too happy to care!" And absolutely nothing could change…

"SHINDOU!"

Maybe not.

Hikaru turned around in shock, to find Touya Akira panting as if he had run a mile and about to collapse. "Touya?" Hikaru frowned at the panting boy who struggled to catch his breath. "What is it? You looks like you have been running from the go salon all the way here."

Akira looked flustered, and Hikaru realized that was exactly what the dark haired boy did.

"Uhm… I…"

"I didn't see you in tournament today." Hikaru drawled softly.

Akira couldn't help but happy to know Hikaru was looking for him, "Yeah… I didn't join, how about you?"

"I am just watching." Hikaru answered honestly. Although he only watched for a few minutes before he dragged himself for shidougo instead because of Sai's urging. "I was really impressed…" He said as his eyes looked to Sai, although in Akira's point of view he was looking at somewhere distant. "Children… even those who are younger than us devote their best in go, their passion and seriousness is amazing…" He murmured wistfully.

That made Akira pause, "Passion and seriousness?"

"Yes… they're admirable, I am impressed." He knew he was babbling but he was still in a rush of happiness after playing shidougo with those kids.

"Admirable." Akira echoed again, "Impressed…" Then realization dawned on him, "Shindou… could it be you…"

Hikaru was snapped out of his musing at the change of tone in Akira's voice. "Yes?"

"Could it be you… " He drawled hoarsely, "You have never been serious? You… really played shidougo with me?!" The look of shock in his face and tenseness in his body language was as good as any answer in Akira's book.

Hikaru always had control of his emotion after years of practive but this time Akira caught him off guard. "I… I…" Hikaru could almost see Akira's mind gear turning and he didn't like what kind of conclusion Akira came up with.

"You…" Akira trailed off in shock and anger, "You are looking down at me!"

Hikaru shook his head, "I don't! I know you're an exceptional player, Touya! I don't…"

"If I am…" Akira gritted his teeth, "Why did you play with me like that! You force the game to end in a tie! If you didn't look down on me, you will beat me fair and square! You're mocking me with playing like that!"

Hikaru swallowed, "I didn't mean to mock you! I am just… "

"Just what?!" Akira pressed on. "Why you play our game like that?! Am I that weak to you?!"

"No! I just didn't play to win!" Hikaru tensed, realizing what he had just said but it was too late.

Akira's temper if anything skyrocketed to its worse. "So…" He murmured, "In the end… you even didn't think it's worthy to win against me? Because it's _pointless_ to win in shidougo!"

Hikaru wanted to stop Akira's train of thought but he knew there was absolutely nothing he could say to pacify the enraged boy now. He could tell Akira the whole story even, but Hikaru didn't think anyone but those who witnessed the whole disaster would believe him. Even Hikaru himself found it hard to believe the way he played now. If someone told him three years ago he would end up like this, he would have hit them with his grandfather's old shinai.

His thought was interrupted by Akira who had grabbed his hand roughly, enough to leave a bruise on his wrist. "What the…"

"I will show you!" Akira shouted as rain began to fall.

HIkaru who was still in a daze blinked, "Show what?" A wrong thing to say, because Akira if possible looked even angrier because of his stupid response.

"My go!" Akira answered as he tugged Hikaru's hand harder. "Let's play again! This time I will show you my full strength!"

Hikaru suspected as much that neither of them played seriously the first time around. So why Akira… well, even though Akira didn't play seriously he won't force the game to tie like Hikaru did. "I refuse." Hikaru declared boldly. "Unhand me now, Touya!"

"No! You're going to come with me!" Akira demanded, "Do you think you can just walk away after what you did?!"

"What right you have to force me!" Hikaru shot back. "You feels insulted? Fine! I am sorry!"

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me!" Akira snapped. "I want a game!"

Hikaru knew he was very much at fault to make Akira felt insulted by their first game, but this boy was getting on his nerve. "Fine! Name me one reason why I should!"

To that Akira showed Hikaru his hand, a hand of go player that with worn nails and callouses that resulted from years of playing go. "Is this a good enough reason for you, Shindou?!"

Hikaru gritted his teeth, looking for an angry retort in his mind but nothing came out.

_"You have lost."_ Sai who had been very quiet since Akira appeared said, _"In this moment… you have been defeated by his determination, if you refuse his challenge… all you did is hurting this boy and yourself." _Sai murmured softly, _"Hikaru… you know what to do." _

The boy with bleached bangs took a deep breath, "Arimasen." He declared. "I have nothing."

"Huh?" Akira blinked owlishly in confusion.

Hikaru sighed, "This time I admit defeat… I will give you another game like you want."

The next thing HIkaru knew, he was dragged by Touya Akira back to the train station.

* * *

**Apparently it took a month for Hikaru's and Akira's second meeting so I need to correct that! DAMN! I should have paid more attention to canon timeline! **

**I have a very minimum knowledge of go, basic rules at least... but well it's harder than basketball! I don't think I can write a detailed match so... perhaps after I did some research but I can foresee it going to be harder than learning theory of basketball LOL  
**

**Correcting their first game because normal even game can't end in tie because of komi DX **

**This Hikaru is inpsired by Saki from Saki... since she always break even in mahjong so I think, why not? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Their Fangs**

The train ride was borderline suffocating and Hikaru couldn't help but noticed his companion had gone weird. Touya was mumbling and tapping the glass window, undoubtedly reviewing his strategy. Touya seemed to be prim and proper child who was raised in strict family, so to see him acting like a man possessed was pretty unnerving.

The fact that it was him who made Touya behave like this… it made him felt terribly guilty.

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "Touya."

Akira tensed before turning to face him. "Yes?" He replied stiffly. The boy who stood across him had resigned look on his face. It made Akira felt frustrated because Shindou accepted his challenge not because the other boy wanted to play against him again but because Shindou felt obligated.

"Listen." Hikaru began, "It's up to you to believe it or not but I didn't play like _that _because I disrespect you." Akira eyed him skeptically. "My reason to play that way… like I said, because I didn't play to win."

The dark haired boy gritted his teeth. "It's a shidougo, of course you didn't."

"For the shidougo, you have no right to talk." Hikaru said pointedly. "I am sure you realize until halfway we're both playing it." Akira looked flustered, and Hikaru could tell the other boy was as ashamed as he was. "Never mind that part…" He said dismissively, "As for why I forced the game to end in a tie, simply because I am a coward."

Akira blinked owlishly at him, "What?" That was as vague as any answer Shindou Hikaru gave in his short time knowing the other go player. It as if the long haired boy had natural disposition in being secretive and vague.

"I am afraid to win in real game." He elaborated stiffly. "That's why I am holding back…"

Suddenly all of his anger dissipated, and it was replaced by confusion. "You're afraid… to win?" Akira repeated in incredulous tone.

"In the same time I hate to lose." Hikaru added as he looked up, "It's not like I want to be this way…"

Akira was getting even more confused, "You're afraid to win but you don't want to lose either so you tie… what kind of logic is that?!"

Hikaru let out a string of mirthless laugh, "It's not logic… but this is me." He closed his eyes. "With the way I am _now_ I can't give you what you want."

"…"

"A game yes, an opponent who play with all his strength to win?" Hikaru shook his head, "No… I can't, and even so you still want to play me?"

There was nothing but plain sincerity and sadness in his voice, so Akira couldn't accuse Hikaru for lying. "Yes." Akira gritted out, "I… until last month I felt something was missing in my go." Hikaru looked at him in the eye, silently demanding an explanation. "I was taught to play go since I was two, and everyone said… I am to be my father's legacy, which will follow his step."

"…"

"I am proud of that, but… after last month game against you… I…" Akira trailed off hesitantly. "I think I found it and I don't want to let it go!"

Hikaru could hear desperation in his voice, and the taller boy understood this was what Sai wanted too. "I understand."

"Heh?" Akira looked up in shock.

"I am not used to be like this." Hikaru wondered why he told this to a stranger he just met a month ago. "And like I said… I hate to lose; I have a pretty strong winner mentality in my opinion… so…" Hikaru looked at Akira in the eyes as he stepped forward so he was just a feet away from the other boy who gulped nervously at sudden proximity. "If you corner me to the wall… _perhaps_ you could force me to play for real."

Sai who had been quiet since they entered the train gaped at HIkaru. _"But! Hikaru! I am happy you want to play for real, but… don't get people to make you! This is bound to be a disaster! Hikaru!" _

"However." Hikaru cut Akira off before he could voice a response. "If you manage to do that, please once again ask yourself…" The door of the train slid open and they had arrived in the station near Meijin's go salon. "Whether I am really _the one_ you're looking for, Touya Akira…"

* * *

**Meijin's Go Salon**

As expected the salon was in uproar when he and Touya came in. Sai was silent, too silent by the standard of the ghost tutor. The chatters erupted like merciless tsunami as they walked further inside the salon, to the same corner they used to play last month . It seemed to be Touya's favorite spot.

"It's that kid from last month!"

"The one who tied with Akira-kun?"

"For real."

He hated commotion, people crowding and making lots of noise when he was sitting in front of a goban. It reminded him of unpleasant memory. Why did he let Touya drag him to this place again? Because he felt obligated to play with Touya? Or perhaps…

"Nigiri." Touya had black goke so he was the one who guessed, and he placed two stones.

Hikaru grabbed a handful and placed it on the goban, and began to separate two stones from the pile. "Six, you won black."

Perhaps in the deepest of his heart he wanted to be back to the way he used to be.

His musing was stopped when he realized Touya had not made his first move, and was staring at the empty goban intently. The game had just begun and Touya was already trying to read him? Unbelievable, Touya was so determined and focused in defeating him. Hikaru felt really sorry for Touya who wanted a rival and of all people Touya found someone like him.

If only Touya found him three years ago…

Pachi

The sound of stone cut his musing off, and he narrowed his eyes. _'That was a pretty orthodox opening, what he is up to?'_

Hikaru placed his first stone in top left corner 4.3, Komoku.

Akira responded, claiming 16-3 on the bottom right side.

Hikaru claimed another Komoku without second thought.

Dark grey eyes eyed the second komoku Hikaru claimed, _'As expected… his joseki is really tinted by Shuusaku.' _He thought as he placed his next stone.

The long haired boy narrowed his eyes before he placed his stone on 15-3.

Akira's next move made Hikaru pause, it was very near with his first komoku. _'Sai and I usually would use kosumi for this… but there is another way for me to respond to this but…' _Hikaru could feel Touya's eyes on him, expectant and unyielding. _'Well, I did ask him ask him to make me play seriously… so…' _

Sai slapped his forehead in exasperation when he saw Hikaru went for 15-6, kosumi. _'Hikaru! You're playing to his hand, didn't you?!' _

The game went on and Sai was getting nervous at the way Hikaru play, it was so him but in the same time it wasn't. Hikaru played all signature moves he made in his last game from Akira, in short he made himself completely predictable to Akira's strategy. He blatantly exposed his Shuusaku like style to Akira and it made Sai sweat.

Touya Akira was not inferior player Hikaru could underestimate, but in this case Hikaru didn't underestimate Touya, Hikaru _let_ him to expose his fang. It scared Sai that Hikaru was willing to let Touya to do this to him. He had a really bad feeling about this.

The last time Hikaru let himself loose, he was an innocent child who had no idea of his own strength in go. And now…

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Akira was really tempted to shout at his opponent who was pretty much playing so pathetically predictable. It was not like his play was sloppy; it was as solid and powerful as ever. However Akira was not a fool to think Shindou Hikaru as someone who would move predictably. He was doing it on purpose. Shindou would pay dearly for this and then… he would…

He was angry but in the same time he was thrilled of what he would see if he managed to force Shindou to play for real to win. That was why… _'I will gladly take your exposed neck you offered, Shindou!' _

_Pachi_

Looking at tenseness and how Shindou stopped rigidly on his track, Akira knew that last move really hurt. His vital formation was in danger from both sides and soon his other formation would start crumbling too if he didn't do something.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Akira didn't ease up, ignoring the false formation Hikaru formed to bait him. _'I admit you're really strong even though you're not playing for real… but! What I want is the you who fight me back with all your strength!' _

Hikaru for the first time for so long felt all his blood rushing to his head, and his heart was beating wildly against his ribcage. _'No good, he didn't buy that bait! At this rate…if I... I have to…' _He thought as he gripped his fan.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

"…"

"…"

Akira tensed when he realized ithad been too long for his opponent to pause, it had been five? No, ten minutes. Shindou couldn't be considering resigning now, could he? No, if there was one thing Shindou stated clearly to him, it was that the long haired boy _hated_ to lose. What he was thinking now? Shindou was already cornered and the game was not even half-way, it was already a situation where if he didn't use fatal attack he would really lose the game.

Thud

For the first time since the game began there was a sound of an object hitting something, and it was not go stone. Akira blinked when he saw Shindou's fan had fallen from his hand and landed beside white stone goke. In spite of the crowd around their goban, the only noise in the background was rain. So when Shindou took a long deep breath, Akira could hear it. That was also when Akira noticed Shindou's eyes were closed and when it fluttered open he was faced by fierceness in those green orbs. He almost jump from shock but quickly regained his composure and stayed still.

Pachi

Akira's eyes widened, _'That… that's a horrible move! What is he thinking?!' _

Pachi

_'Shouldn't he play for real now?! He is going to lose!' _

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Akira tensed when he saw the formation had changed and even though he was still leading in territory it was obvious Shindou had opened a new path for himself. _'That horrible move back then? He… He is preparing for this?! If I stay idle I won't be able to hold my lead!' _

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

* * *

**Shindou's residence **

Heihachi traced the wood grain of the antique goban, the one Sai used to reside in. Just looking at it gave him some sort of unexplainable ease. He often sat in front of it for hours and babbled endlessly about his days, grandson and Fujiwara-sensei.

It as if Honinbou Shusaku could hear him.

"My grandson is a bright child…. Shusaku-sensei." Heihachi said as nodding sagely. "I have no doubt he is going to the next legend, a legend just like you and Fujiwara-sensei."

Of course even though the ghost box was on, no voice came out.

"I wish… back then, his first taste of serious game wasn't like that." Heihachi murmured sadly, "And now as much as I want him to play the way he used to be, I am afraid… if he do, he will feel… bad again."

He chuckled mirthlessly

"People would kill to have his skill… you know, he could read the flow of the game better and faster than any player I have ever seen."

Tears started to leak from his eyes, "He has everything… talent, magnificent tutor, determination to work hard and love for go but… it's so unfair! What my grandson did to deserve this? The path laid out for him to greatness is perfect! And yet… and yet…

_"Monster!" _

_"Watch your mouth young man! What are you saying to my grandson?!" Heihachi shouted hoarsely. _

_"I… but… that's! He is not normal!" _

_"But I… I am just…" Hikaru stuttered in fear. _

_"Hikaru! Go back to your room!" Heihachi ordered. _

_Hikaru didn't move, all he could think was haunted look on his opponent's face and fear that etched forever in his mind._

* * *

**Meijin's go salon **

Silence had fell since the game began but for some reason the silence as the game was reaching the end was even more deafening. Akira stared at the board, where swirl of monochrome danced. He almost couldn't breathe, his eyes scanned the board, fingers reached for his go stones but for the life of him he couldn't find the way out of this.

Majority of his formation was crumbling and there was not much territory left to fight.

Strong! So strong! Not only that, the move he thought was a useless move, a mistake even became a perfect move that turned the game around to Shindou's favor. It was as if he was looking at… no, he was reading the game so far away it was like as if he was looking twenty steps ahead. Not only that, his play was unpredictable, an unique hybrid of old and modern style.

He had lost, and painfully so. He had 5.5 moku lead since the game began but he lost before the game even reached yose. Shindou attacked him fiercely after he fell to Shindou's elaborate trap. It was like walking in even ground and suddenly that ground was gone and replaced by a deep ravine you had no hope to get out from.

"Arimasen." He choked out, as tears he couldn't stop started to fall from his eyes. _'Father… I lost, I did my best but it's not enough… I… I want this person to acknowledge me but I am not good enough! Why?' _

He was his father's pride, and he was proud for his hard work and love for the game he and his father shared. And yet… He clenched his fist in frustration, _in the end I am not good enough, Shindou must be disappointed too… I am… _

Sound of chair's legs scrapping the floor snapped him out of his thought, and sound of something heavy crashed on the floor echoed through the room. Akira's eyes widened when he saw Shindou was hunching on the floor with trembling body. The long haired boy also gasping for air and looked like he was in pain.

"Shindou?!"

One of salon patrons, a bald man in his forties with frameless glasses started to yell as he tried to push other patron out of his way. "Out my way!"

"Yasuda-san?!"

"I am a doctor! Out of my way and give that boy some space!" Yasuda-san shouted at them. "He has panic attack!" They quickly vacated the space around Shindou and Yasuda started to check the boy. Yasuda forced the boy to sit up straight and looked up. He checked the pupil, pulse, and uneven breath. "Panic attack!" He announced. "Kid! Listen! Calm down! Look up! Breathe slower!"

"Haah haah… no… no…" Hikaru shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Aah…" He looked to the side, and he could barely make out Sai who was holding his trembling hand and cried. _'Sai! It's hurt!' _Then he saw Touya, he was crying and really scared. "Tou… ya…"

"Kid! Stop talking! Breathe! Don't talk!" Yasuda-san ordered, but Hikaru didn't listen. "Akira-kun! Your friend is not listening! I don't know why he is in panic like this! DO you know why?"

Akira's eyes widened as his mind replayed Shindou's words back in train.

_"I am afraid to win in real game."_

_That's why I am holding back…"_

_"I am a coward…"_

It was his fault? Because he forced Shindou to play even though he was afraid?

"Akira-kun!" Yasuda's voice snapped him out of his thought, "He wants to talk to you! Come over here and listen! So he can stop trying to talk and breathe!"

Akira rushed to Shindou's side, and he was really scared by how bad Shindou was shaking and hyperventilating. "I am sorry! I am so sorry Shindou! I didn't mean to!"

"Haah… haah… you… play…" Hikaru gasped the words out, "Go? Keep Playing? Haa aah? Will… you uh?"

He was asking whether Akira will keep playing go?

"Don't… stop… "

What he was talking about? What was that supposed to mean? Akira wanted to ask but instead he said. "Yes! Of course!" He didn't even know what he was agreeing on, anything to stop Shindou from hyperventilating and dying.

Something foreign he couldn't understand glinted in Shindou's green eyes and suddenly the other boy stopped trembling and the color of his face gradually returned. His breathing evened out but he coughed a couple of times because his throat must be hurt. "Hh… haah…"

Yasuda checked Shindou's pulse. "Oh… you're getting well, kid." The gruff man said. "I will call a cab, come with me so I can check you up in my hospital."

"No." The refusal was quick and sharp, "Thank you… but I want to go home …" Shindou was looking down, his bangs shadowing his face. Akira opened his mouth to say something but Shindou stood up abruptly. "I am going back now." Shindou announced with a deep bow. "Thank you for today, and I am sorry for making a commotion." Then he quickly walked away before Akira could stop him.

"Shindou! Wait!"

Hikaru sighed, his back was facing the other boy. "I… I have to go now. I am not… feeling well… at all."

In his extremely short time knowing the other boy Akira could tell he was not a person who would willingly show weakness. For this person to openly admitting not feeling well…. He had pushed Shindou too far.

Akira stopped on his track and he could do nothing but watched Shindou Hikaru walked out of the go salon.

* * *

**Few days later… **

He was the worse.

"Hikaru… uhm… it's not your fault."Sai tried to console his surrogate brother who had been brooding and sulking for days since that match.

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "Sai ani-ue… I bait him to push me to the corner, and after he did I proceed to play so brutally to the point our game didn't even reach yose, he cried, I panicked to the point I can't control my body and showed myself at my weakest… as if telling him it's his fault." He listed on.

Sai opened his mouth then closed it again. "I… uh…"

"And I believe you did say it's a bad idea for me to bait Touya in the first place."

Sometimes he really hated Hikaru had such a smart mouth that could put courtier of Heian era to shame.

Okay, it was pointless to change Hikaru's mind because Sai indeed said so. "But Hikaru… are you really going to let him be? If you feel sorry for Touya-kun, you should try to talk to him again…"

Hikaru sighed again. "I am so ashamed of myself… I played him as if I am going to _die_ if I lose that game!"

Sai didn't say anything because he understood Hikaru and Touya Akira. When he saw that boy's skill, Sai could see Touya Akira was going to be a powerful player. In fact after witnessing his play few days ago, that boy undoubtedly had the same potential as Hikaru.

They could be his equal and even surpass him.

At this point of time… the reason Touya Akira to lose against Hikaru was not because he was inferior in talent, experience or skill. It was simply because Hikaru was the type who could read the game ahead and as Sai's disciple he had pride that he was undefeated by no one but his master. In spite of what happened three years ago, Hikaru still had that pride.

Touya Akira had a strong will to win, but in the end Hikaru prevail. It was not something Hikaru would be proud of though. Sai had always seen Hikaru as a brilliant child that was brimming in potential and he wondered if he would grow up to be a dragon or lion but in the end Hikaru was unique and he reminded Sai of a Kirin, peaceful and gentle creature that feared for its wrath.

Hikaru was still very much a child though, and in that game Hikaru let Akira's fang to bite him but in the end he overestimate his self-control and the pain made Hikaru lashed out to Akira and went to kill. Akira himself was a little lulled by Hikaru's submissiveness at the start of the game and was caught off guard.

It was not a magnificent game at all, in Sai's opinion. All he could see was two children with talent who had no idea how dangerous it was to be controlled by their emotion in mental game like go.

* * *

**Touya's residence**

He was the worse…

"Akira-san?" His mother called him. "Is something wrong?"

Akira looked down and noticed he barely touched his food. "Uhm I…" It was fortunate his father was not at home now. He had no idea what to say to his father if the Meijin saw his son spacing out and asked the reason.

Akiko smiled to her only son. "I don't know the detail… but Ichikawa-san told me she is worried about you, that you… perhaps… did you have a fight with your friend?"

Friend? Shindou Hikaru was?

"I… I am not sure he considers me a friend…" Akira murmured. "I don't think so… I think I have hurt him."

That was new, usually Akira wouldn't care ofwhat other children thought of him for being a go player and the son of a famous person. "Have you tried to apologize to your friend?"

"I don't think he can forgive me even if I tried." Akira murmured. "And I am not his friend…"

Akiko smiled, "But Akira-san… seeing how sad you are, I think you want him to be your friend."

Akira looked flustered, "I… it's not like that! Okaa-san!"

The wife of Meijin cupped her cheek, "But Akira-san, this is the first time I see you so disturbed about someone. If you don't want him to be your friend, you will not be this distraught…"

"I…"

Akiko smiled at her only son. "Akira-san, I know you're confused because you are rarely in company of children your age. You're also more mature than any other child… but there's always the first time for everything." She paused, "Which mean you can start now… try to meet this child and apologize."

Akira nodded numbly, considering his mother's advice. _'But Okaa-san… there's one flaw in that plan. I…" _

He didn't even know how to find Shindou, and that boy was as elusive as a ghost! He had heard the story of a boy playing shidougo in that children tournament from Ogata-san. He kept it to himself that he knew the boy because obviously Shindou disliked attention. It was easy to guess it was Shindou as the long haired boy was the only boy his age he knew could give any pro a run for their money when it comes to shidougo.

A lot of people from institute were looking for the mysterious young go tutor. If they couldn't find Shindou, it was very unlikely he could have a better luck. Although…. He was indeed very lucky to find Shindou back then. He couldn't be that lucky again, could he?

Akira quickly finished his lunch and decided to start his search of Shindou Hikaru

* * *

**Few hours later in Meijin's go salon **

The young prodigy came to a conclusion that he was indeed no good in anything but go. Because the only thing that came up to his mind to look for his rival was coming back to his father's go salon. It was not like in detective drama where the criminal would return to the crime scene. Then again Akira had no idea where else he had to start to look for Shindou.

He slumped on his seat, "Shindou Hikaru… twelve years old, he likes alternating his joseki from old to modern at random pace…" He listed on all he knew about Shindou.

The fact he was a genius, with plenty of experience under his belt to match Akira and yet managed to stay unknown until he was twelve was saying something. Go was not the most popular game on earth or Japan, In fact because the circle was pretty small, any prodigy would be spotted since they were young. Simply because no one could be that skilled and experienced with playing at home on their own. There was net-go, but looking at the way Shindou held his stone indicated he played in real world often enough to reach that level of grace and elegance. Beside net-go had just launched last year so Shindou couldn't be that good because of net-go in one year.

Akira had asked Yasuda-san who visited go salon again after that incident about Shindou, and Yasuda-san assured Akira that his friend was alright now. That panic attack was bad but it won't leave any lasting effect, but it didn't make Akira felt better.

"Welcome." Ichikawa-san was greeting someone but Akira didn't pay attention.

"Hello, good afternoon." Wizened old voice said. "I am looking for Touya Akira-kun."

Akira perked up when he heard someone was calling his name, "Eh?"

"For Akira-kun?" Ichikawa-san repeated, narrowing her eyes at the old man before her. He was looking just like any other typical old man who loves go, he could easily mingle in the go salon and no one could distinguish him.

The old man nodded, giving Ichikawa-san a warm grandfatherly smile. "I am _Shindou_ Heihachi… I heard my grandson caused quite a commotion here." He said in sheepish tone.

Before he knew it Akira found himself rushing to the newly revealed Shindou Heihachi, "Good afternoon." He greeted the old go player almost hastily. "I am Touya Akira, nice to meet you sir!" Then Akira stopped on his track, as he realized he had just barged in to the conversation between adults. Heihachi was looking for him, but Ichikawa-san was the one Heihachi was talking to.

"Akira-kun?"

Akira flustered, "Ah, I am sorry I…"

Heihachi chuckled softly, "Nice to meet you too, Touya-kun. I am Shindou Heihachi, Hikaru's grandfather."

This person, could it be he was Shindou's mentor? His name didn't ring any bell, there was no retired pro by the name Shindou Heihachi, and he had looked it up out of curiosity if there was any pro by the name Shindou.

Ichikawa-san beamed at the old man, "My! Shindou-kun's grandfather?" She noticed the tense air around Akira and tried to spare him some time to regain his bearing. "I am Ichikawa Harumi, and we're looking forward for Shindou-kun to come to visit again!" She said hopefully.

Heihachi gave them a rueful smile at that.

Akira swallowed, "Uhm… is Shindou… not going to come here anymore?" He asked hesitantly, _Was Shindou going to disappear on him? _

"Well…" Heihachi trailed off, "He didn't say anything, and while I am here on his behalf my grandson have no idea I am here."

"Huh?" Akira stuttered before he regained his composure. "Uhm… would you like to sit down Shindou-san?" Akira said and the old man nodded in response. Akira led him to the seats he occupied previously and they sat down across each other. "Shindou-san…" Akira began awkwardly, "Did Shindou…"

Heihachi chortled, "I don't think Hikaru notice I am gone though, not when he is occupied by four of my friends and new three brats at home."

It took Akira less than a second to realize Heihachi was implying his grandson was playing shidougo with seven players at home, busy enough that he couldn't notice his grandfather's absence. "Shindou… is really good at shidougo…" He murmured.

Heihachi smiled sheepishly, "He is a devoted tutor, and sometimes I am ashamed I was not half as good when I introduced him to go and now he is the one teaching me."

"Eh?"

"At any rate… you're around Hikaru's age, right? Akira-kun? " Akira sweat-dropped, did this old man just changed the topic at a drop of a hat? He was a huge question dodger as much as his grandson.

Akira nodded, "The same age… I am twelve years old, in sixth grade."

The go prodigy however was not prepared to see the old man suddenly burst to tears. "Hic hic hic! At last this day has come! My Hikaru… at last he has a friend his age and you plays go too!"

"Uhm… Shindou-san?" This was Shindou's grandfather alright! You couldn't tell how his mood swings as bad as a ship in the middle of a storm.

* * *

The next thing Akira knew, Heihachi had confessed his grandfatherly's angst to the Meijin's heir. About how his grandson was borderline a shut in and Shindou was apparently home-schooled. Shindou was totally clueless at how to interact with normal children his age because he didn't get them at all.

"Kids likes toys! And my grandson at the age of nine buried himself under books of historical literature! A through and through history buff!" Heihachi-san wailed, "Which kid in this age think purikura is no different than instant camera?"

Actually it was amazing an old man like Shindo Heihachi-san to even know what purikura was.

"I bought him manga about samurai of sengoku era… and my grandson complained that the mangaka got all the history timeline wrong… got bored of it and start reading Kokin Wakashu of all things…"

Poem? He didn't know whether to be surprised or not.

"I brought him to a play date and he stared at other children squabbling around and playing like normal kid as if they're doing alien activity he didn't get the point of."

Akira could relate to that as he didn't see the point of playing mud ball and pretend it was food. "I see…" Actually he saw why Shindou behaved like that.

Heihachi sighed, "Could you relate to him, Touya-kun?"

"Actually…" Akira averted his eyes uneasily.

The old man shrugged, "Well… that's about my boy."

Akira blinked owlishly, did Heihachi-san just gave Akira a crash course about his grandson?

Heihachi rubbed his chin, and Akira realized he was replying the game with Shindou on the goban in front of them before Shindou-san came. "It may sounds arrogant of me, but I am surprised to know there is a boy as good as my Hikaru." He said as looking at Akira and the game reply appraisingly.

The azure eyed boy blinked owlishly at him. Usually Akira would feel offended by this kind of assessment but in spite of how Heihachi admitted it Akira could see nothing but sincerity and kindness in his eyes. "No, he… beat me twice." The first was a tie, but since Shindou set it up…. "And I am so sorry, for what happened few days ago."

Heihachi frowned at that, "Ah… what happened few days ago is Hikaru's fault, I am the one who should apologize to Akira-kun on my grandson's behalf."

"But… I forced him to play!" Akira blurted out, "He refused but I was selfish and bitter so I…"

Heihachi shook his head, "Touya-kun… I know my grandson, although sometimes I can't tell what is running through that pretty little head of his." He grumbled the last part under his breath. "Hikaru is a stubborn boy and very persistent, if he has no wish to play with you again at all he won't bulge. He agreed to play, which mean he wanted the game."

Akira swallowed nervously, "But… still… I made him to play, and he warned me that he… is afraid to win in real game and I am still…"

Heihachi sighed exasperatedly at that. "Actually I am here to explain that."

"Eh?"

"The reason why Hikaru couldn't play normally face to face." Heihachi continued, "I want you to know, so you understand it's not his fault and not yours either."

Akira gulped, clenching his fist. "Is it wise to tell something this personal to me? I… barely know him…"

Heihachi nodded, "Who knows it's wise or not? But I know deep down Hikaru wanted you to not misunderstand him."

He flinched guiltily at that.

Heihachi took a deep breath. "Well… you're the son Touya Meijin." Akira nodded stiffly, "And you're a talented boy so I guess you understand that with talent you invite jealousy and so on?" Akira didn't answer and Heihachi didn't ask for one. "When I first introduced him to go at the age of seven, Hikaru played go because it please me… as simple as that but it's in his second year he start to learn to play seriously."

Seven years old, that was five years later than he did. Akira calculated mentally. "Why in his second year?"

_Because of Sai_

Heihachi shrugged, "I guess because he got better so quickly and began to love the game for his own reason." He murmured with a sigh. "That's when I started to realize my grandson is special, and he improved tremendously in such a neck breaking pace… it scared me even." He let out mirthless laugh.

It sounded so Shindou somehow and Akira found himself relate to the other boy more and more. He didn't love go at first, a two years old even didn't really get why his father taught him, only that he got praised and loved if he was good at it. As simple as that before Akira fell in love with go gradually on his own.

"Sadly… my grandson became even more withdrawn from other children because he devoted so much time in go, and they didn't get him at all." Heihachi continued.

Akira nodded numbly. "I think I can relate to that… they looked at us differently and we can't just fit in…" Heihachi nodded sagely, he was pleased that Touya seemed to understand Hikaru well enough because they could relate to each other. "But… I still can't understand why he plays like now…"

Heihachi stiffened at that.

"I mean… I did play against children my age before; I outclassed them so badly so they didn't want to play with me anymore but…" Akira trailed off, wincing at one of the worse part of his childhood that made his father forbid him from joining amateur competition. "I don't think… Shindou… couldn't be playing to get forced tie because of that, could he?"

The old man looked thoughtful and anxious for some time and then he took a very deep breath. He scribbled down something on a piece of paper and handed it to Akira. "My home address, if you want to know you should ask Hikaru."

Touya eyed the piece of paper in disbelief, "Just ask?"" He echoed in shock. "But… Shindou…"

Heihachi sighed exasperatedly, "Touya-kun… at this point I really have no idea what to do with my grandson and his go." He confessed sadly, "I mean… it sound irresponsible of me but I am just an ordinary opponent he could beat with his eyes closed if he feels like it. I am an old man who don't understand his pain and sadness… all I did is watch over him. But you…"

"Me?"

Heihachi looked down at the goban, "Well… I can't say my grandson is playing a good game here… " Akira frowned at that, and Heihachi noticed the displeasure in Akira's face. "So what if my grandson won? You played a better game and pushed him hard… and he responded." Heihachi said pointedly. "That brat… I am scared to win but I don't want to lose either? Heh!" Heihachi snorted, "That's a load of bull… that brat can take losing better than any player I have ever seen in my life! He just keep coming back like a cockroach… "

Then Heihachi launched a long rant about troublesome grandson who had no mercy even when playing shidougo with him and how just because his old man was sturdy didn't mean Hikaru could just lead over twenty mokus and returned it in yose without batting an eye.

"Still…" Akira began hesitantly, "Why me?"

Heihachi panted lightly after his long rant, and took a deep breath. "Simply because Hikaru seems to see something in you, my boy is a caring person but when it comes to go he has some sort of selective obliviousness…"

That was what landed him in this situation in the first place.

"However he notices you… at first I think it's because you have the same potential and talent." Heihachi rubbed his chin, reciting what Sai said. "However if that's the only reason he won't bother to give you another game, and he won't wear that disturbed and guilty face when he went home after your first game… Hikaru usually would shrug, hope he will never see you again and you will not notice that game was forced to a tie…"

Akira sweat dropped at that, _'Actually… perhaps it's because I shouted myself hoarse at him until he gives in.' _

In the end maybe he was not special in Hikaru's book, he was just too stubborn and too troublesome to the point the other boy gave in. Heihachi-san must have overestimated his grandson if it only took Akira baiting him to a shouting match to get Shindou to give in.

But…

Akira traced the neat handwriting Heihachi wrote, Shindou's house. It didn't matter what Shindou thought of him, he just wanted… wanted the other boy to acknowledge him. It was different from what he wanted from his father or other pro like Ogata-san, it made him restless, excited, anxious, and happy. So many emotion mixed into one that he didn't know what to call it.

Heihachi stood up, "Well… I have another appointment, and if you rush to my house now you can catch him alone at home." Heihachi pushed something metallic towards his hands and Akira's eyes widened when he saw it was a key. "My friends and those kids will go home around four so he would be alone… and I am not going to be back until six." Heihachi winked.

Akira didn't know what to say, because he couldn't believe Shindou-san just gave him a spare key to Shindou's house. So he gave Shindou-san a timid thank you and watched the old man left the salon wordlessly.

In the end he was indeed very lucky at finding Shindou, he concluded. He swallowed nervously before he walked out of the salon after he bid Ichikawa-san a polite good bye.

* * *

**Half an hour later**

Shindou's house was five stops by train from the nearest station from go salon, and it was located in an old neighborhood where most of the house was traditional Japanese house. None of it was as big as his house but pretty big enough, and Shindou's stood out because it had massive willow tree near the gate. Akira was determined to see Shindou when he started walking from the go salon, but looking at the wooden door of Shindou's house made him rethink again of this abrupt visit.

Not to mention Shindou's grandfather undoubtedly gave him a key so he could enter the house freely so Shindou couldn't slam the door on his face or something. In spite of having permission to enter from the owner of the house Akira couldn't help but feel like he was doing something illegal as he plug the key in and opened the door.

If standing in front of the gate was bad, entering it made him feel even worse because he had no clue where to start. He doubted it very much he could just shout at Shindou to come out. Entering the house seemed inappropriate

Fuuu~

Akira's ears picked a soft, high pitched sound. He had heard this before when his father brought him to a performance of gagaku. He didn't know what he was doing but he instinctively followed the soft and playful sound as if he was hypnotized. Then he saw the boy he was looking for, sitting in seize on a bamboo mat laid in the middle of the garden. Shindou was playing a ryuuteki, a type of Japanese flute,

Akira walked closer slowly, and Shindou had not noticed his presence. It was then he noticed beside Shindou, there was a goban with a finished game, a replay perhaps? He took a turn around Shindou who was still immersed in his own world to take a closer look at the goban. His eyes widened when he saw the stones formation, black and whites dancing beautifully in top of the glossy wooden surface.

He didn't even see the complete replay just the end result but he could tell the go played in this game was a work of an art, a transcendental beauty. He recognized the way black moved as Shindou, steady, calm, unpredictable with subtle fierceness. This was not the same as what he saw in their games, the way Shindou played against him looked like a watered down version from this and Akira felt sad he couldn't get Shindou to play like this with him.

The one who played white however was a master, someone on the level of tittle holder. Akira also noticed the one who played white had zero mercy on Shindou, he didn't know if it was handicapped game or not but this was not shidougo at all. The playing style also alike with Shindou but if in Shindou the Shusaku's influence was like coating, a finishing touch of his own original style. The white player was like Shuusaku incarnation, the playing style mixed modern joseki but the Shuusaku was unmistakable. Who played Shindou like this? And outclassed him this badly to boot?!

"Hh.." The sound of the ryuuteki stopped and Akira tensed when he heard Shindou sighing. "No good." He grumbled to himself, eyes closed in deep concentration. "The last game was awful… what's with reading too far ahead is a mistake? It's not like I can guess how far ahead I should read!"

Akira blinked, _'Shindou is talking to himself? Never pegged him as the type… and he is complaining about himself.'_

"There's nothing wrong with preparing a trap for fifty moves later if it works! Uselessly complicated is the farthest description I could think of!"

He did what? So that was what that off move in 16-7 was for, that was one of many odd hands Shindou played in this game.

"Aargh! Recalling how the trap I prepared for fifty steps collapse is frustrating…"

He was also very animated when complaining about his own play.

"Considering about my opponent's reading skill is important too… hm hm." Now he was nodding to himself.

Akira couldn't help but sat in seiza across Shindou, watching the animated boy in fascination.

"Yes, like Touya." He blinked owlishly that his name came out of the blue from Shindou's mouth. "Some of my traps totally went unnoticed and I can't tell whether he is purposely dodging them or he didn't read the board enough to even notice…"

"I did?" Akira blurted out before he could stop himself.

Shindou continued to nod animatedly. "Yeah… remember that move in 4-7 in our first game? I totally expecting 15-11 that will boost your defense and give you three more mokus, and you go for one that give less influence."

"I didn't notice that, I am concentrating on strengthening my corner." Akira answered.

The other boy was still nodding. "Yeah… I notice that Touya clings to his corner like they're the love of his life… " Akira blushed a deep red, but that was a very standard strategy that had survived since ancient time! "Although he totally will give it up at a drop of a hat so he could control center area."

"Is that bad?" Akira asked curiously.

"Not really, it's good to take risk once in a while but…" Shindou trailed off and stopped on his track before he opened his eyes and turned sharply to Akira's direaction.

They stared at each other for a long minute before Akira broke the silence. "Good afternoon Shindou." He greeted the other boy stiffly.

Shindou stared at him some more then back and forth from the goban and his face.

"Oh."

Akira didn't blame Shindou at all to scream loud enough to burst his eardrum, and Akira had an epiphany he had a talent in surprising Shindou outside of goban. Hikaru himself came to a conclusion that Touya Akira was really bad for his heart. Unfortunately for Hikaru, Akira had no intention to leave him be anytime soon.

Even if both of them were destined to be a legend in go, the detail of their third meeting would be out of history record forever.

* * *

**And here we have second chapter, and I am struggling to get Eclipse 17th chapter out soon! WHatever I have three weeks holiday to mull over which story I am going to focus next. **

**I hope I did a good job in writing this version of their disastrous second game... as said in this chapter Hikaru is not that far ahead from Akira, in fact they're evenly matched. It was just Akira is raised in orthodox styled play in my opinion, Hikaru is his opposite.  
Hikaru in this story also habit of overestimating his opponent so sometimes he play too carefully and set some trap that too elaborate that it didn't work because it's too complicated. **

**Hope you love it ^^ **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Worthy Rival **

It was pretty comical to see that after Touya Akira scared the hell out of him, the other boy was the one who was panicking in fear of him having another panic attack. Of course he was gasping for breath after screaming that loud, it didn't mean he had a panic attack. Touya was so worried that if not for Hikaru grabbing his hand, the other boy would have run to call ambulance.

"Touya! Settle down! Sit!" Hikaru snapped.

Touya obeyed without question and sat in seiza across of Hikaru. "Uhm…"

"Look, I am fine." Hikaru assured the blue eyed boy with a sigh. "There's no need for ambulance, I just need to catch some breath after you scared me like that." He patted his chest; his heart was still beating too fast. "What's with you and appearing out of nowhere, Touya?"

"It's not my intention." He answered timidly. "I am sorry."

Hikaru sighed again, he had been sighing a lot around this guy lately. "It's fine, actually I am more curious of how you could get in."

Touya stiffened at that, "Er… your grandfather let me in." Technically that was the case.

"He let you in when he is not even home." Hikaru said pointedly. "He couldn't… no, he gave you a spare key?!" Looking at how Akira bit his lower lip and averting his eyes, Hikaru deduced Akira was the type who couldn't tell a lie to save his life. "Aah… never mind how did you get here, so?"

"So?" Akira echoed.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Why you are here?"

Akira tensed again before he nodded hesitantly. "I want to apologize for what happened few days ago, and if you don't want to see me again I unders…"

"Whoa whoa… hold it right there Touya!" Hikaru raised his hands in placating gesture. "Listen… what happened few days ago is my fault." Touya frowned at him. "Fine, it's mostly my fault." He amended but Touya frowned even deeper. "Fine… _our_ fault, it's childish… and let's face the fact it must be the most horrible game we ever played in our life."

Akira wanted to refute that but all things considered… "I guess."

"So, let's don't apologize about it anymore…" Hikaru said in somber voice. "It gets us nowhere…"

Akira eyed the hakama wearing boy, for a moment he looked older than his age as if he had lived for so long. His traditional attire if anything made it as if he had a time slip.

"By the way, is to say sorry the only reason you're here?" Hikaru queried curiously.

Akira fidgeted before he steeled his resolve. "I actually came because I want to know…" Hikaru stiffened at that, "But I think I will not ask because I don't think I have the right to know…"

Both of them knew what Akira wanted to ask.

Hikaru titled his head to the side, "Well… I don't think I can tell you anyway even if I want to." Some things were too painful to say. "Hm?" Hikaru caught Akira for a split second was eyeing the goban. "That's a game I played with my mentor…"

Akira nodded stiffly, he wanted to ask who was that mentor but it was very unlikely the other boy would tell him. "It's a beautiful game… you… used to play like that."

Hikaru let out a mirthless laugh, "Yeah…" Used to be able to play like that with anyone to be precise, but now he could only do it with Sai. Because if it was Sai he had nothing to fear, he could go all out and Sai wouldn't even bat an eye. Sai would gleefully dodged his fang and give him a pat on the head.

"I am so envious." Akira murmured wistfully and Hikaru's breath hitched when he saw Touya Akira of all people was giving him puppy eyes and he felt like a jerk who had kicked the said innocent puppy and leave it on the roadside to cry. "Why can't I play with you like that?" And he sounded like he was about to cry.

This guy didn't mean it for sure but Hikaru now felt guiltier than ever. Touya was a lonely prodigy and he craved for someone to be his equal and unfortunately for him the first player Touya found was him. He was someone who was already broken, or rather very close to it.

Hikaru took a deep breath, "Touya… I am sorry but I can't give you what you want, you should look for someone else to be your rival." He told the short haired boy bluntly.

"I don't want anyone else." Touya said stubbornly. "I… I can't forget your go, anyone else would be pale in comparison."

Any other day that compliment was appreciated but now it was just unfair to Touya, " gave you a botched game of shidougo and the second time I played like a man possessed." Hikaru ignored Sai's mental rant about he was taking offense for the latter. "I have no idea what you see in me, Touya."

Akira frowned at that, "Why you sell yourself so short?"

"I didn't." Hikaru retorted.

"You do, someone at your level can pass pro exam already." Akira said pointedly. "There are a lot of people working hard to get to your level so you shouldn't…

That was a sore spot he hit there, and Sai who was in the background was saying something about how Touya-kun was really good at hitting homerun when it comes to Hikaru and how come they didn't meet until recently?

Hikaru snapped, and Sai was right just now what Touya said hit homerun. "Because I am a coward! I am scared of what will become of my opponent if I go all out!"

Akira gave him a look. "In a game not everyone could be the winner, you win some you lose some… it's how it works." He pointed out the cruel fact of life unflinchingly. "You can't throw away your go just because you're afraid to hurt someone's feeling!"

Hikaru was trying really hard to control his temper but Touya had no right to tell him such thing! "I know that better than you ever could! Touya Akira! Someone was not just hurt because they lost to me! I didn't just beat them! I took something they loved and ruined it for them! They quit go! They hate something they loved because of me!"

The Meijin's heir became very still, he could barely comprehend what Shindou Hikaru said. Someone lost against him and they…

Hikaru panted, gasping for breath. "Forget I said anything." Hikaru said in clipped tone after he realized he had blurted out something he didn't mean to and ran his house.

Akira quickly chased after him. "Shindou! Wait! I… I am sorry!" Why they always got to this mess?

Somehow Akira managed to catch Shindou, or more like he stumble and would have crashed head first to the ground and Shindou catch him on time. "Touya, please… just get out of here before I said something I will regret." He said after he helped the boy to stand upright.

Normally this was where Akira would give in and get out of the house as requested. However he reassessed everything he knew of Shindou Hikaru from their first meeting, their extremely short time of knowing each other and he decided. "I am not going to give up." He declared as he locked their arms in iron grip, glaring at the long haired boy.

"You should." Hikaru retorted stiffly. "Someone with bright future like you shouldn't look back at me." He hissed, "I am broken, Touya."

"Look!" Akira hissed, "If you're really broken, if you have given up on your go… you would have quit go! You don't! You _can't_ give it up! You gave me our second game because you wanted to get your real go back! You replay your old game because you miss it!" Akira shouted determinedly. "You can spout lies but your go didn't lie!"

This time Hikaru didn't even utter a word in response.

Akira panted lightly, "I don't know how you feel that someone suffered because of your go, but what right do they have to make you feel responsible for their weakness?! Stop drowning yourself in self-pity!" Akira roared at Hikaru.

"It's not self-pity! It's self-loathing!" Hikaru cried, and flushed a deep red immediately.

"I think it's a quasi-combination of both." Akira said pointedly, not amused by Hikaru's correction.

"We're not arguing about this Touya!"

"We are! Quit being so stubborn!" Akira shot back, "It's stupid! You should try to overcome your fear, not mull over it again and again!"

"Easy for you to say!" Hikaru cried. "You think I did nothing for the last three years?! I tried! I tried to play game as many as I could… but whenever I am just one step from victory I freeze! I can't breathe!"

Akira froze at that, "Three years? You have been like this for… that long?"

"Yes! I wonder myself why I am still alive and playing go." He let out mirthless laugh, "Our second game is my first win in real game… after three years, and I am not happy at all! My fingers feel heavy like lead whenever the image of my defeated opponents flashed on my mind." He touched his temple gingerly, "But they won't go away… it never go away!"

Akira steeled himself. "Then play with me!"

Hikaru hollered, "I played like a man possessed because I feel threatened by you! I am just going to repeat that horrendous play!"

Akira shook his head, "I will take it! I will endure it as much as I have to so you can overcome your fear! I won't stop! I won't quit! So you can play with all your strength and not worrying about me!"

Hikaru openly gaped at Akira's declaration, not caring the proper manner worthy of a Heian era noble Sai had drilled mercilessly on his head for the first time in five years. "Did you just offer yourself to be my training dummy?! Are you nuts?!" He drawled incredulously.

"I am not that weak Shindou! I am still coming back to you after that beating didn't I?" Akira shot back defensively.

_'That is a brilliant idea! Touya-kun!' _Sai cheered to Hikaru's mind.

"It's a stupid idea!" Hikaru said out loud.

Touya however didn't know it was not addressed to him. "No, it's not!"

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is…" Hikaru's angry retort was cut off when he heard laughter coming from behind them. Dread pooled up on his stomach as he turned around and he saw his grandfather and Towa, old friend of Heihachi laughing at him and Touya. "Ojii-san! Towa-san!

"What are you two doing?" Shindou Heihachi chortled, holding his sides. "When I gave Touya-kun our spare key I didn't expect a grade school level fight." As they were both twelve it was not an insult but sounded like one because of their mini adult persona.

Towa nodded in agreement, "Oh my! It's Touya Akira! I can't believe I live long enough to see two go prodigies arguing like kids their age!"

**"He started it!" **They shouted in unison as pointing at each other.

Heihachi and Towa stared at the two blushing boys who just realized they were embarrassing themselves even more with that line. "I should have it recorded." Towa said wistfully, as he took out his brand new phone his daughter bought him. Unlike most of his old friends he was not as illiterate in new technology. "In about ten… no five years I am sure it would fetch quite a price."

Heihachi nodded in agreement. "Hm… whatever you say Towa, at any rate Touya-kun…" The Meijin's son flushed a deep red. He was given permission to come to speak with Shindou and what he did was starting a shouting match with the other boy instead.

"It seems you're doing pretty well in getting through my grandson's thick skull." Heihachi however took their shouting match as an improvement.

"WHAT?!" Hikaru hollered before he caught himself he was about to scream at his grandfather, "But Ojii-san, what are you…"

"That said." Heihachi began with a tone of finality that made Hikaru dreaded what he was going to say next and Sai was cheering in the background. "Feel free to come to our house anytime." And you can keep the key was unspoken but implied.

Akira blinked owlishly, "Oh… I…"

Heihachi launched his next plan, "We have study group at ten every weekend that also double for Hikaru's tutoring session, and on Wednesday afternoon started at three we have mini competition between us old folks." He listed on their schedule, ignoring Hikaru's protest. "And Friday is a free day for Hikaru, which he spends on playing music and reading books…"

"Ojii-san!" Their go schedule was one thing but his off day was entirely different matter!

It took Akira only a few seconds to digest what Heihachi was getting at. "Of course… I will join your study group, Shindou-san."

"Call me Ojii-san." Heihachi said, grinning at the young prodigy. "It's confusing since there are two Shindou… in fact when I am around get use to calling my grandson, Hikaru."

"That would be improper." Akira said thoughtfully.

"Nonsense."

Hikaru groaned, "That's not the nonsense here!"

"Look, Hikaru agrees." Heihachi said gleefully.

"I am not!"

Hikaru watched his grandfather shaking Touya's hand as if they had sealed a lifetime deal, and he couldn't help but realized with horror that Touya Akira just got an unspoken permission to stalk him from now on.

Sai, his wonderful and revered surrogate brother didn't offer any help. If anything Sai seemed to support the idea.

It was so unfair, why all of them sided with Touya?!

* * *

**Two weeks later~ **

In Sai's opinion, Hikaru's life was always interesting in spite of his status as homeschooled boy who only went out for buying groceries, books and visiting library. In shot a borderline shut in, who happened to have nagging ghot go tutor and overprotective grandfather.

Touya Akira's entrance to Hikaru's life made his host's life three times more interesting in his humble opinion. Especially when he and the rest of their unofficial go club found out about the two prodigies' uncanny ability. They seemed to be even more genius at stripping their rival off of their mini-adult persona and started a shouting match over every single detail of their game.

Like now…

"What's with you and kosumi?!" Akira howled.

Hikaru snorted, "Why you're so fixated on that particular move?! Get over it Touya! It's old and so what?!"

"And this one too!" Akira pointed at another corner of goban. "You should have surrounded it, not attach it!"

"And let you attack my upper left cluster? No way!" Hikaru said defensively. "And this move over here, you should have defend it instead of waiting for me to kill it!"

In the background the three kids who were also Hikaru's unofficial students were cheering for both of them. They fell in love with Akira, who they deemed was as cool. He also made Hikaru-sensei scream and start exciting shouting match all the time. Which was even more exciting than their go game.

Their discussion about go always started civil enough, they disagreed, voice started raising in volume, and reduced to repetition of…

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is too!"

"It's not!

"Is too!"

"It's not!

Biwako-obaasan, who was also the wife of Towa-san shook her head when she entered the go room to find the two prodigies were at it again. "Snack time, discussion is over sensei!"

Both prodigies stopped on their track and quickly took their chance to regain their breath, panting lightly. The trio junior player let out a chorus of _aww_ because the shouting match was over and _yay_ for snack time.

Hikaru quickly left the room as he ushered the three younger children to come with him, leaving Akira who was still sitting in front of goban and staring at their latest game. Akira bit his lower lip in frustration. It had been two weeks since he started to visit Shindou frequently and so far half of their game couldn't reach yose. Because whenever they were about to reach yose and if Hikaru was leading, the long haired boy would start to pale and his fingers started to shake. Their game always stopped whenever that happened.

It was fine though if Akira was the one leading, it was always a close game between them even if he was winning, never more than three moku win. It didn't make him happy at all because his rival couldn't play at his full strength yet. Shindou was not kidding when he said he tried as hard as he could to overcome his fear, and he failed miserably at it.

Apparently he was fine in net go because he couldn't see his opponent's face. Akira was sorely tempted to play net go too but he knew playing against Shindou online was counterproductive. He was glad net-go existed though, because prodigy or not playing against the same set of opponents over and over again would stunt his growth.

As for Shindou's shidougo… Akira had firsthand experience (kinda) in their first game but watching Shindou glided around the room as tutoring multiple students at once was breathtaking. His voice was not stern and dignified like his father, or cheerful and friendly like Ashiwara-san or the professional and stiff tone of Ogata-san.

Shindou's voice was gentle and coaxing, and in every step he was leading his student to the right path. He was as if trying to lure them to it. He made them concentrate on their game to their best ability. If Akira didn't know better he would think Shindou was hypnotizing them or something, especially because they almost in a trance whenever they finished playing shidougo with him.

He also had this peculiar habit of using his fan as pointer, which was odd. It seemed he had no trouble trouncing his grandfather mid-game and leisurely returned the moku to even in yose. It was surreal, and he seemed to have no problem playing four or five simultaneously and forced all of it to tie.

Everything he came to know about Shindou Hikaru's go if anything made him feels even more frustrated by their game with each other.

"Touya." His rival's voice snapped him out of his thought.

Akira turned to face the long haired boy, "Shindou, is that my share?" He asked, eyeing two plates of pudding the other go player was carrying on tray.

Hikaru nodded, "Yep, let's eat in balcony… it's no good to be cooped up outside all day."

Akira followed the other boy to the balcony, "Sugar for tired brain?"

"Yeah…" Hikaru said as he sat down on the wooden floor. "By the way it's been two weeks but it seems… you're not giving up yet." He said in tired tone.

Akira snorted, "Of course not Shindou."

"I still don't get why it have to be me." Hikaru said with a sigh.

"Because I see you." Akira returned promptly.

"Maybe you haven't try to look enough." The long haired boy said, narrowing his eyes at Akira. "You could try to look at Insei."

Akira snorted, "I am flattered you want to get rid of me so badly."

"I should have known it's pointless to argue with you, Touya." He said as he stood up and left, carrying empty plate of his share with him. Probably he was going to put it to dishwasher.

Akira would have been offended if it was anyone else who said it but this was Shindou, the boy who put himself under a mental block from winning out of his guilt. He didn't see why Akira had to go through all this trouble for him. Akira in the other hand even though he was frustrated sometime, he was happier than he had ever been since his father forbid him to join amateur tournament.

Looking at Shindou now, Akira couldn't blame his father for it.

Then again Akira who had been spending these two weeks in Shindou's company began to realize it was not just his caring personality that caused him to be the way he was now. Shindou was very sensitive towards emotion that hidden in formation of stones, which was not odd as most experienced player could tell a lot of thing from how someone played. And when his grandfather told Akira that Shindou was sensitive, it was an understatement.

One time he and Shindou were watching a recording of a match between Zama Ouza and a beginner dan. The beginner dan was a bold player and not afraid to attack the Ouza relentlessly and Zama had slaughtered the young player swiftly in mid game and in the end he had to resign before the game reached yose.

Akira was shocked to see his rival was fuming as he clenched his fist around the sleeve of hakama he wore. When asked why he was so angry, Shindou looked at him as if he had asked something stupid. Then Shindou asked back whether he saw it? That the game was a horrendous game where the beginner player was foolishly charging on for the sake of showing off, and the Ouza who supposed to be a respected title holder was baited and took a great delight in humiliating his opponent to show the younger player his place. There was no passion, no love and no beauty in this game at all. Then Shindou went on to launch a long rant of what each move meant, as if he could read what running through their mind on each hand.

He just stared and listened to Shindou, not quite believing and he had his doubt. It was not until his father's study session he brought up the topic of that beginner dan series match, his father of all people expressed the same opinion. His father was disappointed that his fellow tittle holder lost patience against a 1-dan and play for his own pride. Ogata-san also dropped his own two cents, saying that it was a bad match because the 1-dan was a brat with inflated ego because he passed pro exam and Zama Ouza was an angry old man.

Their opinion of the said match was brief, short and only touching the skin. Nothing like Shindou's who somehow managed to make it a five minutes rant that summarized the whole game. It was a startling discovery that explained a lot why Shindou became the way he was now. He was so sensitive to emotion in go and it got to the point any negative emotion overwhelmed his senses.

To Shindou Hikaru, go was not just a battle of skill and strategy but also mind and heart.

It pleased Akira to know more about Shindou even though… the long haired was still distant to him. He held Akira at arm length and made sure they weren't overly friendly with each other. It was alright to Akira because he knew both of them were hopeless at interacting with children their age, and was in process of learning. He also knew Shindou didn't want to get close because whether or not he could be Akira's rival in his opinion was still up to question.

He didn't want to get Akira's hope up and failed it.

Sometimes Akira wondered if there was anything Shindou didn't do that wasn't for someone else's sake. Which was why Akira treaded the subject about going pro very carefully around Shindou. Especially after he found out that going pro was another touchy subject for Shindou.

Seriously, Shindou was like a walking landmine.

Heihachi-jiisan told him about Shindou's run in with Gokiso, a 7-dan and the washed out pro. Shindou had accidentally met the middle-aged pro last year and witnessed the man assisting a vendor selling fake kaya goban and an old goban he claimed as Shusaku's. Looking at how Shindou played it was as plain as the day he worshipped Shusaku as if the legendary Honinbou was a god, so to Shindou Gokiso-pro and his partner in crime had done the worst sacrilege against Shusaku.

As if that was not bad enough, Gokiso-pro took out his frustration on a beginner he was playing shidougo with. Shindou had enough and boldly stood beside the frightened beginner and challenged Gokiso-pro. Shindou then instructed the beginner to place his stone for him. Gokiso-pro didn't mind Shindou helping the poor old man, thinking it was just some punk trying to be a hero. Combination of getting caught off guard and underestimating his opponent, Shindou turned the game around and won.

The beginner was surprised and pleased a young boy out of nowhere was helping him after he was trounced that badly by Gokiso-pro. That man now was one of Heihachi's friends and Shindou's student, Sasaki-san. He was the one who energetically regaled the tale of Shindou-sensei's heroic exploit much to Shindou's embarrassment.

Akira never hated anyone but it seemed Gokiso-pro would be the first on the list, because whenever the topic of going pro came out Shindou would give them a genial smile that didn't reach his eyes and promptly said, _'That's not going to happen, I don't want to get paid to play go.'_ The tone he used suggested he said that a lot.

It was really a very long road to be Shindou's rival, but it was okay Akira could be very patient when he wanted and Shindou was worth all the effort. One way or another he would drag Shindou with him to join the pro world, where both of them destined to belong.

In the kitchen Hikaru shuddered as he put the dirty dish to sink.

_'Hikaru? What's wrong?' _Sai asked.

_'Nothing… probably it's Touya up to something again.'_

Sai had the nerve to giggle at that, imagine! His ani-ue! Giggling because of his misery! _'You know… it seems it's just about time for you to declare arimasen to him.' _

Hikaru huffed, _'No way! I am impressed of his determination but I AM NOT going to give in so easily! And if he thinks I didn't notice how his expression change whenever someone in our club mention about me going pro… I swear! That Touya is getting ahead of himself!'_

_'I still don't get how the two of you seems to be very good at knowing at each other, I don't think I know my own blood brother as well as you does Touya-kun.' _Sai said pointedly.

Hikaru flushed a deep red, _'How do I know?! And I really hate it when he gives me that look!' _

_'Your life would be much easier if…' _

_'NO WAY! Ani-ue, don't you dare to suggest that! I am not giving in even if he gives me that damned puppy eyes! Hell no!' _He cried mentally.

_'Hikaru! Language!'_

* * *

**Meijin's go salon **

All patrons who witnessed the game of the two prodigies had come to a silent agreement to keep it a secret, and their little teacher himself had asked them to keep it quiet. Apparently Shindou really disliked attention and people from Go Institute were looking for him to boot. It was not hard to see their young prodigy was trying his best to befriend Shindou Hikaru and they would hate to ruin it for him.

However it was inevitable that the Meijin would notice that Akira-kun's daily visit to his go salon was cut in half for the last two weeks.

When the Meijin himself, added that he was your boss, and he asked about his son who happened to be your favorite little brother…. "Uhm… Akira-kun is visiting his friend." She desperately hoped the Meijin was not displeased his son didn't spend time as much in go salon because he was visiting Shindou-kun. Akira looked so happy and cheerful, more than ever since he could visit Shindou-kun as much as he wanted.

Actually there was no reason for Touya-Meijin to be displeased because Akira went there to play go too anyway, but there was no way she would reveal that Akira's friend was a go prodigy in his own right who had defeated Akira twice.

"A friend?"

As much as she hated to admit it, Akira didn't have any friend at school. Ichikawa herself had listened to Akiko-san many times about how teachers at school expressed their worries about Akira's lack of friend. So of course when a friend came out of nowhere and _took_ Akira's attention away from go, Touya Meijin would have a huge question mark on his mind about the phenomenon.

Then again Shindou-kun himself was a phenomenon.

"Yes… Touya-sensei." Ichikawa murmured. "But… it's nothing to worry about! He… is a very good and polite child." She assured him hastily.

"So this friend of his has visited our go salon?" The Meijin inquired. "So he plays go?"

Of course since Ichikawa knew Shindou-kun, it meant she had met the boy in go salon. It was easy to guess that as both Ichikawa and Akira-kun spent most of their time in the salon.

What should she said to that?! Akira-kun had told her that Shindou-kun disliked attention, and the Meijin would of course pay attention to the boy who could defeat his son. Her boss only asked if Akira's new friend played go, he did and she didn't have to say anything whether Shindou-kun was as good as Akira or not.

"Yes, he does." Ichikawa answered.

The five titles holder hummed at that, "So… Akira is teaching this friend of his?"

Ichikawa suppressed her urge to laugh at that since Akira himself admitted that Shindou-kun was better at him at tutoring. In fact Ichikawa was sure Shindou-kun could give even pro players a run for their money in shidougo. Ichikawa herself had come with Akira-kun to Shindou-kun's house last week on her off day to see it herself. She didn't expect to see so many players old and young in Shindou-kun's house, and they were tutored by the young prodigy. Akira of course assisting his rival in his teaching game, and Ichikawa was surprised Akira himself asked Shindou-kun to teach her. As much as she loved Akira, she couldn't deny Shindou-kun was a better teacher.

So if the Meijin asked whether Akira was tutoring Shindou-kun, this was where she had to lie but she didn't want that!

"Well…" The meijin fortunately didn't wait for her to answer. "Either way this is the first time Akira is interested in someone, he must be an exceptional child."

So either way Shindou-kun wouldn't escape from attention, poor boy. Ichikawa was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the Meijin walked away from the counter, but then she realized he was going to play shidougo with Hirose-san of all people. Hirose-san worshipped the ground Touya-Meijin walked on, there was no way he could keep any secret, especially if he was facing the Meijin in front of a goban.

In unison all patrons in salon and Ichikawa-san weep inwardly. _'We're so sorry! Akira-kun! Shindou-kun!' _

Soon enough poor Hirose-san started singing like a canary and no one blamed him, because this was Touya Meijin in front of goban. Nothing was scarier than Touya Meijin in front of goban, especially when his only son was concerned.

* * *

**Shopping District (The next day, Friday)**

Shindou Hikaru never dreamed he would go for his old books hunting with Touya Akira of all people. Then again there were lots of things happened he didn't expect to happen since he met Touya Akira. Unfortunately for the two socially awkward children, the shopping trip was spent in silence because they had no idea what to do. Of course they could talk with each other, but both of them knew naturally it would be about go and they didn't trust themselves to not start a shouting match in public when go was concerned.

Luckily when Hikaru started to pick books in an old bookshop, Akira found a familiar ground. "I am a Cat is a popular literature, but I have never find a chance to check it out."

"It's about politics." Hikaru said pointedly, "One of Japan's finest satires… not my preference though."

Akira reached out to pull another book from the shelves, "You like old books, and I noticed a lot of your books are poems and slice of life…"

Hikaru shrugged, "It's a common misunderstanding poem is just flowery words… and slice of life is a good genre to read for relaxation." Then he pulled a book, "This book, Aqua is not as old as most book here… a science fiction sort. Where mankind turned Mars to be a water planet a lives there with minimum help of technology in their daily life…"

Akira took the book Hikaru handed him, "Hm…" He started to flip through it. "The topic is very light…"

"Well… the moral of the story is finding simple happiness in every corner of your life." Hikaru murmured softly. "The sequel, Aria is the same… "

In the end Shindou exited the bookshop with a full paperback while Akira bought Aqua and Aria, Shindou recommended. He was offered to borrow Shindou's, but Akira wanted to own the book himself to have more insight about Shindou.

Speaking of Shindou… Akira eyed his attires for today. "I am always wondering… why lately your casual clothes are like that."

At that Shindou sighed exasperatedly, looking down at his clothes which could be described as modern looking kariginu Heian's courtier wore. It's more like a white sleeveless shirt with kariginu's collar, and underneath Shindou was wearing a turtle neck black shirt, loose black pants and a simple orange obi to complete the traditional but modern look.

"Ichihashi Tsuyu-obaasan." The youngest of Heihachi's old folks who were also one of Shindou's students, a cute middle-aged mother who really loves to dress up cute boys and girls. Akira had experienced it firsthand the horror of being hugged by Ichihashi-san. He was appalled when the kind woman offered to dress him up in kimono.

"Her family owns a kimono shop… I bought all my traditional attire there, and last week her daughter just graduated from fashion design major… she has this idea to make a clothing line or modern traditional attire, not just kimono but also older one like kariginu and kazami…"

Akira blinked at that, he recalled Ichihashi-san always doted on Shindou and had expressed her desire to _borrow_ him as model for her boutique.

"Before I know it, they have raided my wardrobe and replaced majority of my casual clothes with these." He pointed at his clothes, "I don't really care to be a walking mannequin or anything." Came to think of it a lot of people asked Shidou where he bought the clothes, so he was also some sort of walking advertisement too?!

"But I wish my grandfather put some fight to get between them and my wardrobe…"

"That's impossible." Akira said pointedly.

"I know… but at least I hope he tried…" He said wistfully. "Speaking of which…" He eyed Touya's clothes, frowning at the other boy. "Uhm… never mind." Inwardly he plotted to get Ichihashi-san's daughter to raid Touya's wardrobe too.

Akira gave him a look, "What are you thinking?"

"Go obviously… and also…" He trailed off, "Where is that plastic back with wood polish for goban you bought?" He queried, eyeing Touya's right hand that was only holding one paper back.

Touya groaned, "I think I leave it at the bookshop!"

"Should we go back?" Hikaru offered, "It's pretty far but…"

Touya shook his head and then he noticed his father's go salon was near, "I will go back to the bookshop myself, it's my fault to be so reckless." Then he pointed at the go salon sign. "If it's fine for you, please wait for me in our go salon… Ichikawa-san would be more than happy to serve you some drinks and snack."

"I don't want to impose." Hikaru drawled in lofty tone. "Beside… I still feel awkward to go there."

Akira sighed at that, "It's fine Shindou, in fact our patrons are really eager to see you again. You don't even have to pay entrance fee, since I am sure you will end up playing shidougo the moment you stepped inside."

_'Ha ha ha! Touya-kun knows you pretty well!' _Sai commented, _'Come on Hikaru! It would be nice if you get to know the patrons in that go salon too!'_

_'But…'_

_' Touya-kun helped you with tutoring at home, and since he spent a lot of time in our house now those patrons lost half of tutoring time from him!' _Sai knew very well Hikaru felt guilty about it.

"Fine…" He reached out. "Let me carry your books, Ichikawa-san will keep it for you."

Akira smiled at that as he handed Shindou his book. "Thanks, I will be back as soon as I can."

Hikaru watched Akira left with a small quirk on his lips, one of these days they'd really be friends. However it still saddened him that he couldn't be the rival Akira wanted, what should he do? His musing was cut off when he entered the go salon because not even five seconds, all patrons rushed to ask for shidougo with him.

"Uhm… I can play four at once." He offered and received a wide-eyed look in response. "Is that fine?"

Ichikawa Harumi giggled, trust Akira-kun's rival to have more surprise. "Of course Shindou-kun! Let's move the table so you can play four boards shidougo."

Soon a chorus of 'Your guidance, please.' Echoed through the salon.

As the teaching game went on no one but Ichikawa noticed the door slid open, revealing Touya Meijin and Ogata-pro. Ichikawa had never thought the sight of two respected pro players, and one of them was her own boss to boot, almost sent her to a hysteric fit. She steeled herself to stop the Meijin from investigating the crowd that formed in the back room, but all she did was babbling incoherent noise.

She followed the two curious go players to the backroom but nothing she said got through them as they made their way to the inevitable. The patrons quickly parted like a red sea for the Meijin and 9-dan, revealing four games that almost reached the end. She swore he heard both pro's breath hitched at the sight of four gobans, with monochrome war on top of it with Shindou-kun sitting in the middle as he placed the last white stones that ended the last game.

Shindou-kun seemed like he didn't notice the commotion, lost in his own world of go and students in front of him. Then he began the post-game discussion soon, and his opponents for some reason looked like they were still on some sort of trance after the game.

"Kidowaki-san, you're too hasty in yose when you're leading… in this corner you should have defend here instead of attacking my formation. You open a path for me to cut you here…" Then Shindou-kun quickly remake the game according to that scenario, "There… much better?"

"Hum." Kidowaki-san hummed in agreement. "Then I move here?" He said as he placed another stones.

"Correct." Shindou-kun complimented, "That will force me to respond like this."

"Ah." Kidowaki-san blinked that he hit another wall.

"Don't resign here, there's still a way, Kidowaki-san." Shindou-kun said with genial smile. "Just look closer to unexpected path… and I will right back."

Then Shindou-kun turned to the next goban quickly. "Hirose-san… in this part you should attack bolder because you can cut me here."

"Oh… "

"And then…"

The discussion went on and miraculously no one bothered to alert Shindou-kun about Touya-Meijin and Ogata-pro. It seemed no one wanted to disturb the post-game discussion. Or more like there was no way they would want to cut this enlightening experience off. However as much as Ichikawa was tempted to save Akira's friend there was nothing she could do when the discussion was over and one of the four players realized they had a very special audience.

"Touya-sensei!" Hirose-san exclaimed in shock.

Shindou-kun turned to the side, "That's faster than I thought, Tou… ya?"

Ichikawa stiffened, it seemed Shindou-kun thought Hirose-san was addressing Akira-kun and not Touya-Meijin. She desperately hoped Shindou-kun didn't misunderstand this! Akira-kun had nothing to do with it! Ichikawa herself had no idea the two pro players were coming today.

Shindou-kun blinked owlishly at the two before he abruptly stood up, and Ichikawa feared the long haired boy was going to run away.

"Good afternoon." He greeted them as he bowed politely. "It's an honor to meet you Touya-meijin."

The Meijin quirked an eyebrow at the over-politeness but didn't question it. "What's your name?"

He hesitated for a moment then he answered. "I am Shindou… Hikaru."

The other pro didn't say anything; he was busy looking at the four gobans. Ogata narrowed his eyes as he strained his brain to recall something, it was nagging him since he started watching the shidougo. However he couldn't put his finger on it. He was snapped out of his musing when his teacher asked a question that drew his attention like moth to flame.

"You're the boy who played shidougo in last tournament." That sounded more like a statement than a question, and Hikaru could only gave the Meijin a tentative nod. "Are you the one who defeated Akira?" The meijin asked again.

* * *

Hikaru contemplated his choice, and in the end there was no way he could lie in the middle of the crowd that majority of them were watching his game against Akira. However in the same time he didn't want to say yes to that question, because it didn't feel like he had won.

He swallowed heavily and the Meijin glanced at Hirose-san who nodded frantically. "It's not like that!" Hikaru snapped. "I…" He clamped his mouth shut as he realized he had shouted at someone who should be treated with utmost respect. "My apologies… but I…"

The Meijin looked at the four goban and analyzed each of the game, it was a magnificent game even though it was shindougo. "Looking at your skill in shidougo, I find that plausible…" Hikaru suppressed his urge to protest. "However, I still want to see it myself…"

Gasp echoed through the salon at the implication.

_'Hikaru?' _Sai called his surrogate brother.

_'It's a wonderful opportunity but… ani-ue would you…' _

Sai shook his head, _'No, as much as I wish for it… this is your game, this honorable man wish to see the extend of your ability. He wish to see what his son sees in you.' _

_'I have no idea what _Touya_ see in me.'_ Hikaru said mentally as he followed Touya Meijin to a secluded corner, the different one from last time he and Akira played.

"Sit down."

Hikaru suppressed his urge to rub his temple, because the Meijin didn't even ask his consent to play. This was Touya Akira's father alright, like father like son, both were so demanding.

_'Hikaru!' _Sai chidred him, _'This is your chance to go all out against someone other than me! This man is someone in the same level as I am!' _

That sounded really tempting, and really, the chance to play against the Meijin was worth to salivate over but… He didn't feel like playing just to vent his urge to go all out, to play with that kind of intention was…

He took a deep breath, "May I ask you a question? Touya-meijin…" The Meijin frowned for a moment but gave the boy a curt nod. "I understand you want to see my strength but I don't think that's the only reason you want to play against a random young player such as me."

"It's for my son." Hikaru stiffened at that. "I taught Akira go since he was two years old." The Meijin began narratively. "I play with him every morning, and he has already at pro level."

Inwardly Hikaru wondered he had a feeling this was a divine retribution, and did the Meijin was giving him a crash course about his son?

"I didn't allow him to play in amateur tournament because Akira would crush another children's hope to grow…" The Meijin said sternly.

_'Perhaps… that's what I should have done too.' _Sai thought with a grimace.

"That's why."

In that moment the door chose to slid open and a calm and young voice came from the entrance. "Ichikawa-san, where is Shindou? I thought he would be in the middle of shidougo by now."

"Uhm… Akira-kun… Shindou-kun is… "

Akira could see Ichikawa-san was pale and the whole salon had gone too silent.

"Touya-sensei… is…" She stuttered guiltily.

He swallowed and quickly went deeper inside the salon and heard his father's voice.

"Akira is that special. That's why! For a child his age who could beat him exist, I can't believe it!"

* * *

"Otou-san… why…" Akira approached them tentatively. "Shindou… I…"

Hikaru could almost see how his mind gears turning so the long haired boy raised a placating hand before Touya started stuttering and embarrassing himself in front of his father. "I know… this is all coincidence." He assured the other boy who flushed a deep red. "It's amazing you can keep everything quiet for weeks anyway…"

"But!"

Hikaru turned to the Meijin. "Akira…" It would be confusing to call Touya with his surname in front of his father. "He kept everything about me as a secret because I dislike attention and he respected my wish."

"I see…" The Meijin murmured. "Then let us begin, you can place three stones… just like Akira. If you're on the same level as my son, that's all you need against me."

Akira swallowed and much to his father's shock said something he never expected of his son. "Shindou… Hikaru, if you don't want to play, don't."

At that Hikaru went wide eyed, did Akira just defy his father's wish?! For him? "What are you saying?"

"Akira, let this boy prove his strength." The Meijin intoned.

Akira whirled around, facing his father. "Otou-san! He doesn't have to prove anything! I lost… against him twice! I will replay those two games if you want but please don't force him to play against his will! And not for my sake!"

"Akira…" He had never seen his son this defensive, and for this boy no less.

Hikaru snapped, "No way! You're not replaying those two horrendous games in front of your father! In front of the Meijin! How could you?!" Instead of touched Hikaru looked appalled and betrayed by Akira.

Huh?

_'That's right Touya-kun!' _Sai cried.

"I'd rather embarrass myself! I don't want you to collapse again!" Akira shot back.

"You're going to embarrass _us_ both!" Hikaru said pointedly.

"Why you!"

"Akira, Shindou-kun." The Meijin called, his voice softened.

The two bickering boys paled in horror when they realized they almost started their shouting match in front of The Meijin. "We… are so sorry!" They said in chorus and bowed at him in the same time.

The Meijin chukled softly, "It's fine… I never imagine to see my son acted like this, it's… enlightening."

The two boys blinked at that, not understanding which part of their impromptu shouting match could enlighten Touya Meijin.

"At any rate… if Akira is this persistent to stop our game…" Touya Kouya trailed off, "Perhaps… we don't need a game after all."

"Actually, I would like to play a game as you wish… Touya-sensei." Hikaru admitted in lofty tone.

"Hah?" Akira whipped his head to his rival. "Shi… Shindou!"

He heaved a sigh, "It would be an honor beside… as you said, Akira _is _amazing…"

The other blushed a deep red, stuttering incoherently. "Shindou! What are you saying?!"

"Amazingly stubborn…" He finished sternly.

"Huh?"

Hikaru glanced at Akira, "He is amazingly stubborn about our rivalry even though I am like this…" He shook his head ruefully, "I have no idea what he sees in me, he has such bright future ahead of him and here he is… waiting for me."

Akira gritted his teeth, "I told you, I am fine with it and…"

"That's why…" Hikaru cut him off, "The least I could do now is playing against Touya-sensei… in the first place this game was requested of me for your sake…"

"Hm…" The Meijin grunted, "If it's alright with Shindou-kun, I would be more than happy to play against a boy Akira acknowledges…"

Suddenly Akira felt his heart was beating loud enough to make him deaf, a shiver ran through his spine in anticipation.

"If it's Touya-sensei…" The long haired boy continued.

_'Yes… this man perhaps is my equal…' _Sai whispered to his mind. _'You can go all out with him without fear.' _

"I think… it would be alright if I go all out…" Hikaru finished in wistful voice as he locked his eyes with Akira's. "You want to see my _real _go firsthand, don't you? I will show it to you now… against Touya-sensei, your father…"

Akira swallowed, "But I…"

"Please don't be mistaken." Hikaru murmured, "I am doing this just not for my own satisfaction or guilt… I have a request…"

"Request…" Akira echoed.

Hikaru nodded, "After this game ended, I would like you to question yourself again… whether I am the one you're looking for…" He said with a tone of finality. "Touya Akira…"

Akira sighed wearily, until when this person will question his own worth? "Fine… but I doubt my answer will change…"

"As stubborn as ever…" Hikaru sighed, then he turned towards his opponent. "Well then… Touya-sensei? Shall we begin the game?"

"Very well…"

**"Your guidance please…" **

* * *

**When Haze won the tournament against Kai I can't help but think OMG, Akira is giving Hikaru a puppy eyes... it's especially so obvious in manga when he said he is so envious it's not him who play Hikaru. I always think Hikaru is really weak against Akira when he is giving him a look. **

**At any rate... Hikaru is still trying to run away from Touya in a sense, because he can't give Touya what he wanted. This is the same characterization from canon in my opinion. ^^I also shows bits of Hikaru's past, it's more like a gloss over version... not the detail.  
**

**As for the title... It's a joke since Hikaru is Hikaru LOL from Tale of Genji as in Genji no Monogatari ^^ Although we're not going to have a harem story of course. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I AM SO SORRY for taking down the first version, but I write you guys a better one and LONGER that's will make up for double alert!  
**

**Chapter 4: The Fang of Kirin **

Hikaru was excited that he of all people was honored by the chance to play against the Meijin, the title holder who was hailed as Japan's strongest go player. Of course the reason he accepted this game was not for altruistic reason, far from it. If he just wanted to play against strongest go player, Sai was available. His mentor and surrogate brother was the legendary honinbou after all.

However the reason this game was happening, it was to show his real go to the Touya Akira and his father. So they could have a fair judgment of his worth as a go player. Hikaru was well aware he was strong, and very proud of it. His pride stemmed simply because he had worked hard to be good enough as Sai's disciple. Torajirou was… simply a proxy to Sai, but in Hikaru, Sai wanted him to be his heir. That privilege alone made him unable to accept defeat, which was the only reason that saved him from spiraling to endless defeat because of his fear to win.

It was not simply to prove his worth, but also to defend his master's pride as legendary go player that carved his name in history.

This game was not for victory, or at least it wasn't the main purpose.

"Three stones handicap." The Meijin offered.

Hikaru shook his head, "My apologies, but I have to refuse that offer."

The Meijin raised an eyebrow and Akira gasped in shock. "Shindou?"

He raised his hands in placating gesture, "It's not that I am claiming that I didn't need the same handicap as Akira did because I am a better player…" He explained in lofty tone. "It's just that my playing style make it unfavorable to me to play against strong player at your level with handicap…" He explained earnestly.

That didn't make sense, then again almost everything about Shindou hardly made sense. "Eeeh… you mean…" Then Akira recalled the replay of Shindou's game against his mentor. "Don't tell me… your mentor… never play shidougo with you?"

Much to Akira's horror, Shindou gave him a curt nod. "Never… I don't think he ever hold back against me at all." In short his mentor trounced him in every single game. "That's why… if player in Touya-sensei's level give me handicap and holding back against me… it's the same as handicapping me because it will throw me off..."

And also why this person didn't get the meaning of holding back against weaker opponent, which was also why he trounced those people who gave him the trauma of winning?! Akira thought.

Sai weep in the background. It was not his fault Hikaru was such an eager child who could take his worse since the tender age of eight. His Spartan teaching method worked miraculously though. Although in exchange, Hikaru had a pretty botched sense in measuring his opponent's strength when he was younger. Shidougo was some sort of training for Hikaru to learn how to hold back and correctly measuring his opponent's strength. While he never played Shidougo with Hikaru, his surrogate brother learned how to play shidougo from him.

_'I am so sorry Hikaru!' _

_'It's too late for that… as long as Touya-sensei didn't take it as an insult…'_

"I understand…" Touya Kouyo said as he eyed the child before him skeptically. "Let's play an even game…"

"Hai."

**"Your guidance please."**

Inwardly Hikaru was pretty skeptical the Meijin really got him. Then again this was Akira's father, if he was anything like his son, he would leap first because it was more challenging like that. Oh well, he had explained himself and all he could do was playing his best. Beside this person's eyes, the same eyes as Touya.

Pachi! '3-3, Tsuke'

Akira narrowed his eyes at the opening hand, one of Shindou's favorite openings.

Pachi!

Hikaru couldn't help but stunned to see the way Touya-Meijin was holding his stone. What a magnificent way to handle stone, and Hikaru couldn't help but wonder if this was the way Sai would hold stone if he was corporeal?

Pachi (16-3)

Pachi

The Meijin paused when he noticed his opponent's eyes were closed and slowly revealing deep green orbs that shone with something he thought shouldn't belong to a child. There was a long silence before the young player decided his next move.

Pachi (4.4 Hoshi)

Pachi

Pachi (Kosumi)

Pachi

His eyes narrowed at the last move, _'Shusaku's kosumi?'_ He responded that move.

Fifteen hands later Touya Kouyou paused, crossing his arms above his chest and surveyed the goban. He couldn't help but noticed his son didn't send him questioning glance for his pause. In fact Kouyo was sure his son's was observing Shindou's hands rather than his. He couldn't blame his son though as he could begin to see what his son sees in Shindou Hikaru's go.

He was an unconventional player, using a mix of classic and modern style and somehow managed to make it so distinctively his. Shindou Hikaru's go was also one of the most beautiful play he had ever seen, poetic and subtle. It was nothing like any play Akira had ever seen before for sure, and so contrast with preciseness and fierceness of Akira's go.

It was really odd though, as a child this young shouldn't have developed aesthetic side of his play yet. It was not like this boy's go had matured either, Kouyo could see the inexperience and youth of a child's go in his like Akira's. It must be his mentor's influence, and Kouyo couldn't help but wonder what kind of player nourished this child's go to the point it developed this kind of poetic beauty.

But his move was also heavily tinted by Shusaku's joseki, as if… this boy was the disciple of the old legend itself.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The game progressed to chuugen, where confrontation couldn't be avoided anymore. So the Meijin surveyed his opponents' territory carefully. Shindou-kun's formations were solid like a fort, but it was nothing a player on his level couldn't penetrate. He could cut Shindou-kun's main formation if he wanted to do so now but…

This child was Akira's equal; undoubtedly he was at least as good as Akira. He wouldn't play to kill against Akira so quickly so...

Pachi

It was then Kouyo noticed the boy was frowning at the latest move he made, it was not the best or the strongest but it was a good enough move for someone in his level. No… this child realized he was holding back just now, and the boy was displeased about it. He was no mind reader but the boy's next hands were moves of a player who had their plan interrupted and scrambling for plan B. It was not his pride that made the boy frowning but…

Could it be?

Hikaru narrowed his eyes as he made his next move, he should have known the Meijin wouldn't play to kill against someone in his son's level. He shouldn't have expect the same treatment from this man like Sai would but… all he knew about this man was kifu from his official match, all he learned was real strength not the toned down one. This felt like he was the one who played handicapped game, and against the Meijin no less.

_'Hikaru! I am so sorry!' _Sai wailed to himself. Hikaru was good at reading board and predicting his opponent's future move but he was no seer. Hikaru made his prediction based on his knowledge of the said person, firsthand experience playing against them was better but kifu could serve as good material.. Because Sai never held back, Hikaru rarely misread and he couldn't predict people when they were holding back on him correctly. So when the Meijin held back, Hikaru's reading became off and that was taking a toll on him mentally

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

It was now or never, he had to bet on this.

Pachi (8-5)

Shindou-kun's latest hand made his breath hitched and Akira gasped in shock.

Hikaru was well aware his latest hand could be considered very rude against someone like Touya Meijin, however it was just his playing style not a challenge from a stuck up brat. He could hear Sai laughing softly on the back of his mind, and it gave him a sense of excitement and pride because Sai approved his latest move.

He could feel Touya junior was glaring daggers now at him with eyes screaming, _'What are you thinking, Shindou?!' _

Touya could be very expressive with his glaring; he picked that one up very fast in the last two weeks.

Oh well, for now he had to concentrate on this game. He closed his eyes again and let himself fall deeper and deeper to the game. At this point of the game he could afford to be totally loose and played as he saw fit.

Sai eyed his disciple with a thin smile on his face, _'Hikaru… my young Kirin, show this honorable man… the serenity of your slumber and your fang when you're awaken' _Sai raised his fan, _'Bare your fang to him now, otouto…' _

Pachi!

This time the Meijin didn't disappoint, he placed his tone where he would mercilessly cut Hikaru's biggest formation.

Pachi!

Hikaru narrowed his eyes, _'Fifteen more hands… no, twenty… thirty… I need to be as subtle as possible. If I rush on fifteen it would be noticed by Ani-ue. At thirty Ani-ue would jump to the trap because it's going to be fun to jump at it in his opinion…' _Hikaru closed his eyes, _'Then again… using Ani-ue as a standard is a little hard, especially it's like a hobby for him to dodge me at last second… but it's not like I will let go so easily.' _

Suddenly lightning struck down from the sky, so loud that all patrons in go salon let out a shocked gasp. The Meijin narrowed his eyes at the child before him who didn't even flinch at the loud thundering sound that followed. Such concentration when playing a game, even pro players rarely had this much.

Truly… his son had chosen well, this game was just about to reach yose but he could see why his son wanted this boy as a rival.

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

However he still couldn't see what the boy wanted from that move, and why the boy wanted him to go all out. Especially by now the boy had been left behind by at least 15 moku.

**Pachi! **

Kouyo's eyes widened in shock when he saw the last hand and surveyed the board as a whole. That challenging move thirty hands ago! It was not a mere challenge, but a trigger for an elaborate trap that took reign over center area. Unbelievable! A child Akira's age formed such an elaborate trap?

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

As if it was not a surprise enough as he was about to escape the trap, another trap was unveiled. He barely noticed Akira's shocked gasp at the sudden ferocity Shindou-kun revealed from beneath that beautiful and serene formation. It as if he had just woke a sleeping dragon… no a kirin from its peaceful slumber, and it won't let him go.

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Hikaru knew with that trap he had won around eight extra moku, that was cutting his lost around half but this was already yose and he had to rush to seize this opportunity to gain some more.

Pachi!

Pachi!

He was cut off in every corner in spite of his best effort. This was the Meijin after all, and in turn of dragging the pro player to his trap now he was getting an all-out attack. Nothing he was not used to, his mentor gave him this kind of beating every single night.

_'This boy… it's not like my attack has no effect but he keep pushing through without fear, and even though it's slow he is gaining on me.' _Kouyo thought as he strengthen his defense before Shindou could invade further.

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

_'Yose is my home ground but there's nothing much to scrap by at this point...' _

Akira swallowed as he watched the game was rapidly reaching the end, _'As expected… he is the strongest in yose, he is flawless…' _

The Meijin responded, _'There's no mistake at all in his yose technique, so he is the kind of player who shows his best at the end of the game…'_

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

**Shindou's residence**

Two old men, Heihachi and Towa let out a content sigh after a sip of new green tea they just purchased from the master who blended it himself. It was pretty pricey but considering Heihachi had good money from his retirement fund, he could afford to splurge once in a while.

"So, how is Touya-kun and Hikaru-kun?" Towa asked.

Heihachi shrugged, "Hikaru is still trying to run away, not as much and as bad as the first few days… you know in the first few days my polite grandson repeatedly slamming door on Touya-kun's face and then they started shouting at each other in spite of the door between them…" The shoji door was thin in the first place anyway.

He laughed softly, "They really love shouting at each other, and considering both are mini adult and calm it's a wonder…"

Then again back before Mitsuko passed away, Hikaru was such an active child it was not much stretch of imagination. Touya-kun seemed to be the calm type all along.

"Who knows?" Towa sipped his tea, "All things considered both of them didn't have normal childhood."

Heihachi was not offended by that remark, because it was mostly Hikaru who distant himself from his peers. "Well… they make up the lost time now, but I wish my grandson is not so stubborn."

Towa sighed at that, recalling the chaotic first few days when their young teacher was trying his hardest to get Touya-kun to stop visiting him. Had it been any other child they would have given up, but Touya-kun was amazingly persistent in chasing their young teacher. Considering he was the son of Touya-Meijin, and had everything to pave a smooth path of go career. It was hard to believe the boy had such a drive to work his hardest to get what he wanted.

Slowly but steadily Hikaru-kun was relenting.

Then again knowing Hikaru-kun, it was not just in his personality to act so cold towards anyone. He must felt bad too in the end for acting that way towards Touya-kun.

"But still… if I didn't know better, I would have thought Touya-kun and Hikaru-kun have been together since they were younger." Towa said. "I swear… just yesterday I think Touya-kun was glaring at Hikaru-kun and he somehow understood what Touya-kun wanted." He had this resigned look whenever Touya-kun was glaring at him, and it was amusing.

Heihachi shrugged at that nonchalantly, "Yeah… I get what you mean, soon enough they will start finishing each other's sentence in their shouting match."

**Meijin's go salon**

Hikaru breathed out and in slowly as the adrenaline was slowly leaving his system. Even though he was used to play this kind of harsh game against Sai, it didn't mean he won't feel the tiredness in mind and body. He was after all still very much a child, Sai said. If he could push himself this much, he had to be proud of himself.

The Meijin was still staring at the goban, at their finished game. They didn't arrange it so they could count territories easier, as they were good enough to do so without rearrangement and it was not like the result was not obvious enough.

He had lost by 8.5 moku

One century ago he would be considered lost against the Meijin by 3 moku. That was a pretty amazing achievement of course, but it seemed vain and mundane considering he had better score against Honinbou Shusaku on his best day. The Meijin also totally holding back in the first half of the game anyway… he also didn't know the Meijin as well as he knew Sai. Studying his kifu could only go so far too, he had succeed to read ahead of Meijin's steps with minor errors, that counted for something.

The Meijin at last looked up from the board to his face, "You're indeed a strong player, Shindou-kun." Much to Hikaru's shock the Meijin was smiling at him. "It's no wonder why my son… Akira acknowledges you…"

"But…" Hikaru breathed out. "I…"

"Shindou…" Akira began and he noticed his rival quickly averting his eyes. "Why you're averting your eyes from mine?"

Hikaru refused to meet his eyes, "You need to see mirror sometimes to see what kind of look you shoot me."

The Meijin had to admit, he didn't expect to see Akira making that kind of face. Akira was always a composed and reserved child, he rarely voiced what he wanted. However Akira now was completely open to this boy of what he wanted, and Shindou-kun was receiving the full brunt of Akira's longing. The way the boy reacted suggested he had seen Akira shooting him the same look before.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Akira's voice rose in volume.

"Touya Akira, I am not going to answer that and keep it down before we…" He trailed off, glancing at the pro player before them. _Started another shouting match, and in front of the Meijin. _He didn't have to say it because in the last two weeks he learned that Touya was smart enough to pick up his hint. As long as the said hint was not about giving up on him, which ignored expertly by Touya.

Akira blushed a deep red, and then glanced at his father, halfway between embarrassed and horror. "Father… I am…"

Kouyo shook his head, "It's fine Akira… I am really glad to see this side of you, it seems being your father didn't mean that I know everything about you." His son blushed even harder. "And also… Shindou-kun."

"Yes?"

"You're an exceptional player for someone so young… and I apologize for holding back in the first half of our game." He could see the boy was going to open his mouth to say the apology was unnecessary, such a polite boy. "You have warned me about your playing style and I didn't heed it… truly, you're someone worthy to be my son's rival."

"I am not sure about that…" Hikaru murmured somberly.

Kouyo shook his head, "I don't know why you see yourself anything but worthy, however… you have to know… whoever taught you to play go was… unusual and it shows in your go..."

"Really?!" Hikaru beamed, his lips quirked up to a smile so wide and he was glowing with happiness.

Akira and the Meijin didn't expect that kind of reaction from the long haired boy, it was just merely a statement from his observation and hardly a compliment. Shindou didn't even smile when Akira's father complimented him. But for some reason Shindou was so happy about it and his reaction was out of his character Akira learned to know for the last two weeks.

Perhaps what he knew about Shindou was just a miniscule part of bigger enigma known as Shindou Hikaru.

_'Sai! Ani-ue! He sees you in my go! Touya-sensei did!' _

Sai smiled at his young charge, _'I am glad… but I think you should be happier that the Meijin complimented you.'_

_'I am!' _

And now Shindou looked so happy and he was in his own little world, he looked like… twelve, like a child he supposed to be. The bright smile he could never think Shindou could form didn't seem like it was going away anytime soon.

For a long while both Touyas didn't bother to snap Shindou out of his daydream as to see the composed and mature child to be so happy, it made them clueless of what to do in respond to that. Ogata of all people saved them from disturbing Shindou's daydream. They hardly notice he had come back from his errand, which was totally an excuse because Ogata was not interested to see his teacher beating random child. Ogata's eyes quickly drawn to the sea of white and black on the goban, however his eyes was locked to black's formation and he turned to Shindou who was still daydreaming.

"You! Kou! Right?! You're… Kou!" Ogata exclaimed.

That snapped Shindou out of his daydream and looked at Ogata wide-eyedly, he looked shocked for a moment before his eyes narrowed in confusion quickly. "Who?"

Ogata almost tripped over himself out of shock, "Who?!" He echoed. "I am Ogata Seiji! 9-dan! Ogata… **Seiji**!"

Akira sweat-dropped, trust Shindou to not know who Ogata-san was. Then again Shindou almost cut himself off from professional go world. He knew who was the current tittle holders and deep history of go and the institute but not of top players or the detail of matches. Akira also suspected his rival didn't know about the detail of pro exam or insei. Or he just tuned most of it out.

Shindou stood up from his seat and gave Ogata a polite bow. "Nice to meet you, Ogata-san." Then he titled his head to the side, "Do I know you?"

"You!"

Akira quickly stepped forward between Shindou and his father's student. "Ogata-san! Why you're shouting at Shindou, and what's with this Kou business? His name is Shindou!"

"Is that so?" Ogata spat sarcastically.

Hikaru shrugged, "Akira… Touya-sensei, I am sorry but it seems we have to cut this short." His eyes narrowed, "I am not comfortable with this intrusion, my apologies but I should take my leave…" He said with a deep bow.

"Shindou?" Akira looked at his rival worriedly.

Hikaru shook his head and whispered as he walked pass Akira. _"Keep quiet about me around this person please…"_

_"Fine, but I am going with you." _Akira hissed as he followed Hikaru. "Father, I will not be home today!" He said as he turned towards his father, as his feet carried him to opposite direction. "I have told mother I am going to stay over at Shindou's house on the weekend! And I will go home by myself!" Kouyo could guess what the last part meant, don't send Ogata to fetch him and that doubled as kept Ogata away from Shindou.

The two young boys hastened their pace when they heard Ogata shouted, "Wait! Kou!"

"Ogata-kun! Behave yourself!" Kouyo warned the younger pro player.

Ogata flinched, "Yes, sensei…" He took a deep. "That boy… the playing style I see in this game, I know who he is… " He suppressed his urge to chase after the two when he heard the sound of door closing.

Kouyo narrowed his eyes, "He is an amateur… and even though he is as good as Akira…"

"Seriously…" Ogata groaned, "Sensei, you have no idea who your son has found…" It was like finding an unicorn, but Akira had no idea for sure. "This boy… his nick in net-go is Kou.. K.O.U… kou for光 (ray/light)

Kouyo frowned at that, it was very likely Ogata-san was right since Shindou's play was so distinctive it was easy to recognize it, the chance Ogata recognize it wrong was slim. "So?"

Ogata sighed wearily, "This boy as Kou is indeed one of top players online, but he is special because he is Sai's disciple." Ogata smiled at the confused look he received from his teacher. "Sai… could be considered the Meijin of Net-go, and a number of pro players from all over the world already have a taste of his strength… including Yang Hai of China, and An Teson of Korea…"

Ogata then moved towards the goban and pointed at the elaborate trap Shindou sprung on the Meijin. "This… this elaborate and layered trap is unmistakably Kou's… this distinctive mix of old and modern joseki too…" He added with a growl. "Due to his popularity, nowadays Sai is very selective of his opponents, and it's either you're lucky he picked you or you got through his disciple first…" He adjusted his glasses, "I never believe in my luck so I go to second route… challenging his disciple Kou, first."

Kouyo eyed the stone Ogata was pointing at and back to his student. "Then? I find it hard to believe that boy could beat you. He is exceptional… I can even say he is perhaps a little ahead of my son but you're a seasoned player with years of experience Ogata…"

Ogata flushed a deep red, "It's not that I lost… in fact he resigned before the game reached yose but…"

"But?" Kouyo urged him.

He swallowed heavily, as much as he hated to show his shame he couldn't fool his teacher. "I underestimated him… back then I didn't know what to expect aside from watered down version of his master's go, I thought he is just a random kid Sai picked… and the information he is Sai's was dubious at best back then…"

Kouyo sighed at that, "You do know that Akira is more than capable to give you a run for your money when you're underestimating him."

Ogata snorted, "I will not call it giving me a run for my money… " He said as he walked towards an unoccupied seat beside one his teacher used and began to replay a game on the empty goban. "Akira will give me a run for my money when I am underestimating me, Kou however… will do this." He said as he placed the hand that had haunted him for months.

"This.." Kouyo's eyes widened. "This trap… is as elaborate… and layered, even a high dan could fall on it… it's similar with what he used on me, the style at least… and the level of complexity."

"If Akira could give me a run for my money, when I was underestimating him…" Ogata repeated again with saccharine tone, "That boy… Kou… he would grab me from the least unexpected moment, knocked my breath out of my lungs and before I could get my bearing together he will inflict as many harm as possible even though his fang and claw is that of a young child… he is vicious."

Kouyo could see that, it was exactly what Shindou-kun did. The boy couldn't win against him, but by pure determination the boy had no fear to jump at his blade and clawed him.

"However…" Ogata gritted out. "That boy after he mauled me as much as he could… and I am about to pay him back, he resigned."

"… Resigned?"

"Yes." It took almost all Ogata's self-control to not snap at his honorable teacher, especially because now that boy was undoubtedly under the Meijin's protection.

He had seen the glimpse of how the Meijin looked at the young boy, Kou… Shindou. He also didn't miss how Akira looked like a cat ready to pounce when it seemed he was going to inflict bodily harm to the boy. There was no way he could get away with attempting anything at Akira's very first friend. Go figures Akira's first friend and rival was the most elusive young player from net-Go and Sai's disciple. Kou and Sai had been attracting attention left and right since their debut.

"You felt insulted." His teacher pointed out the obvious.

Ogata took a deep breath, "Yes, but I am not going to inflict bodily or mentally harm to a child over it… and definitely not a brilliant child you have your eyes on, sensei."

Kouyo nodded at that, "Good, so what do you want from him? Another game? Or information on his master?"

"Both." Ogata admitted reluctantly.

"And you will get neither unless the boy willingly give it to you." The Meijin stated sternly, leaving no room for discussion.

Which mean he had to coax it out of the boy, and judging from the way the boy played his game, it was very unlikely.

The Meijin eyed the game he replayed skeptically, "While I admit the in our gametrap is very likely Shindou-kun's… this joseki is a different style from what he has shown me… Shindou-kun's play is littered with old joseki here and there but… his play is more like _inspired_ from Shuusaku… this is very Shuusaku like… like a reflection…"

Ogata sighed at that, "Oh… that is Sai's playing style, after ten hands or so I think the boy can tell I am just indulging him so…" He shook his head, "Such a crafty little boy… made me let my guard down even more with throwing my expectation right on my face before I completely on mercy of that elaborate trap he sprung on me."

Kouyo sweat-dropped at that, "In short… it's a childish tantrum." Akira was mature most of the time but he had long suspected beneath that calm façade Akira was capable to throw a childish tantrum. Shindou-kun had thrown a vicious one at Ogata for sure.

That aside…

Kouyo eyed the hands he recognized distinctive from Shindou-kun's, so this was the master? This was merely replication of a student of his master and yet from it Kouyo could see the glimpse of masterful and transcendent beauty of Sai's go.

"Sai… hm…" Kouyo crossed his arms, then turned towards Ogata. "Does this person have any record outside of Net-go?"

Ogata shook his head ruefully. "No, sensei… nothing, just his Net-go nick and his disciple who we know by assumption until today because of their distinctive play style."

"Hiding in the dark, hm… so there is someone like that who never show himself… " Kouyo untangled his arms, "Ogata-kun, I expect you to control your curiosity around the boy… my son, Akira is trying his best to drag that boy out of his shell… and I will be displeased if our curiosity ruin that."

"Hai sensei." Ogata knew very well the worth of patience in go world. It was not like he could pry it off of the boy if he tried. That boy was a fighter in spite of his young age, he would fight teeth and nail to keep his secret. It would be better if the boy was close, close to Akira and his teacher so Ogata could investigate Sai on his own leisure.

"Beside…" Kouyo trailed off, "Even if we will never catch the tail of the master, I'd rather choose the boy who will be the future of go world with my son rather than an unknown like Sai…" He said as he placed the stone that will cut formation on the goban.

Pachi!

**Teahouse **

It was a quaint teahouse, nothing fancy but it had the kind of relaxing air Akira liked. Shindou seemed to share the same opinion as they browsed the menu and ordered their drinks and snacks.

"I will not ask about your mentor." Akira said as soon as they finished giving the order to the nice waitress in kimono.

Hikaru shook his head ruefully, "Hh… I can see you're really curious and seriously, I am amazed you can hold your curiosity back this much for my comfort." Akira frowned at him. "I am grateful really…" He assured the dark haired boy. "I have lots of secret I can't tell anyone… I think that's why I can't keep friend my age aside from being the odd one out too…"

Akira resisted his urge to retort he was also the odd one out as it would be totally like flattering Shindou, and it would sound fake.

"Come to think of it, you're also weird… Touya." Shindou said out of the blue.

Akira smiled at that. "Is that so?"

He shrugged, "Takes one to know one I guess… but… if you want to know what problem Ogata-pro have with me I don't mind telling you. In fact I'd rather tell you before he does."

Akira frowned at that, "I thought you don't know him?"

"I don't." Hikaru answered promptly, "I played him once… I suspected he is a high ranking pro, but I don't know who he is until he spelt out his full name to me." He said as he rested his chin on top of his crossed fingers.

The Meijin's son gaped at him, "You played against Ogata-san online?"

He nodded curtly, "Yeah… although in a sense we can't really call it a real game as he was totally underestimating me, I was offended and playing along with it for a while…"

Akira blinked owlishly at him, and the Meijin's son had a feeling where this goes.

"I replicated my teacher's play after twenty hands or so because I could tell this person had no intention to take me seriously and I was merely stepping stone to get to my teacher… so I showed him a watered down version of my teacher he expected me to be and sprung a trap on him." He averted his eyes, "Then I resigned."

"You what?!" Akira half-shouted

Hikaru blushed, "I was mad okay! It's childish! I know… returning the favor like that… and I have been chastised properly by my teacher for it! So don't start!"

After the shock dampened Akira suddenly couldn't stop himself from laughing, "Ha ha ha ha… the disrespect aside… ha ha, that's so funny! I don't know you have that in you!"

"It's not funny!" Hikaru snapped, thoroughly embarrassed. "I dislike that one game so much! I can't stand playing against someone like that… his play was aggressive, mocking and… it made me want to hurl…" He hissed.

Akira sighed at that, "I understand… I played against Ogata-san many times and I can say I sense some sort of hostility from him, it's like… he is wary of me but in the same time he didn't want to take me seriously either because of my age."

"In short… his pride as an experienced player made him look down on us." Hikaru concluded in dry tone. "However in the same time he is not blind… well, you better be careful when you go pro and play against him… your father's son or not he seems to be the type who will try to show you your place for as long as he could…"

Akira tensed at that, "If I go pro…"

"It's not _if_ to you, does it?" Hikaru murmured.

"And how about you?" Akira blurted out before he quickly covered his mouth in shock. It was too late though as he had said it loud and clear to Shindou, the dreaded question.

Shindou however gave him a long stare that made him squirm. Their order came just in time to cut the awkward silence that ensued. Green tea and ohagi for Akira, and uiiro and Oolong tea for Hikaru. If Akira thought he had escaped from the awkwardness and tense situation he was horribly wrong when Shindou at last stopped fiddling with his straw and began to speak.

"The hand of god… do you want it?" The long haired boy asked in a tone that made him sounded like he was in a daze.

Akira blinked owlishly at that, not expecting that question. "I think all aspiring go player wants it… it's the pinnacle of go…"

Hikaru smiled at that, "As expected but… Touya, are you thinking that if you can't achieve it before you surpassed me?"

That question caught him off guard and Akira swallowed heavily. "I… I am not sure myself, it's just…"

"I also want to achieve it, the hand of god." Hikaru admitted, glancing briefly at his ghost tutor who had wandered pretty far away from him so he could get a private conversation with Akira They couldn't be too far apart though, and he was not sure why Sai wanted him to speak privately with Akira. "Although… I am never sure whether I really want it or what I want truly is… to achieve it for my teacher's sake…"

"Huh?" Akira was confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean perhaps I don't want it… at least not for myself but for my teacher who wants it." Hikaru explained in lofty tone. "In the end I think nothing else matter, as long as we could achieve it together… that is what keeps me playing all these years… "

Akira pursed his lips, "I think…" He began, taking a deep breath. "It's not wrong to wish for something for someone else's sake, I also wish for my father to attain it but…"

"But?"

"I also want it for myself… I want to achieve my own hand of god." Akira confessed. "My father was… my goal, but in the end it's how a student sees their master… and one day I will surpass him."

"Surpass your father?" Hikaru echoed. "That's a lofty goal I guess… and I don't see where it involves me."

"You too!" Akira drawled, "You should surpass your teacher too… one day! You will!"

Hikaru's eyes widened at that, "I… surpass… my teacher?" He echoed bewilderedly. "I never think of such thing…"

"Why not?"

Hikaru looked wary and Akira quickly regretted asking, another sore topic it seemed. "I… loves go, and when I found I excel at it… I love it even more. However the reason I play is because it make my grandfather and teacher happy… I never have a goal for myself I guess… and I thought… I just want to play like this forever and ignorant of what happened outside… and when I tried to peek…"

Akira didn't need the other boy to finish his sentence as he knew. He was ignorant of the world outside of own little world, and most of all he was innocently unaware of his capability. So when he stepped out, Shindou Hikaru unknowingly trampled on those inferior than him.

There was no point forcing him to go to pro world, he was already afraid before he tried. Akira wanted to scream and angry at him for that but he knew that Shindou didn't deserve his resentment. He could also see that deep down Shindou Hikaru long to reach out to the unknown and he was still trying.

"Shindou…"

"Yes?"

Akira's eyes softened at him, "We can just take one step of a time… maybe now you don't know what you want for yourself but… if you stop, I will never stop looking back and wait…"

Shindou Hikaru closed his eyes at that before shaking his head ruefully. "Really… you're amazingly stubborn. I really feel bad for you…"

Akira laughed softly at that, "It's not like… being around you is not pleasant."

"So in short, you enjoy stalking me." Hikaru concluded bluntly. "I am glad you have a new hobby... Touya." He said patronizingly as he poked his uiiro.

"Shindou! That's uncalled for!" Akira blushed a deep red at the word stalking.

Hikaru chewed his snack, "Don't temp me to shout at you, because I really like this place and I will hate to be banned from here for starting a shouting match with you."

Akira quickly sank back to his seat, and feeling totally humiliated when he realized a lot of people was watching the impromptu of his outburst. "This is embarrassing…"

"Uh huh…" Hikaru agreed absentmindedly. "Let's wait until we have our privacy at my home…"

Akira blinked owlishly at that, "Eh?"

"It's embarrassing…" Hikaru echoed him, "But it's fun, shouting at you…"

Akira looked appalled, "Shindou, you…"

"But in general… I guess it's fun to spend time with a friend…" He added.

The other go prodigy froze at that, "I am… your friend?" He asked in hopeful tone.

Hikaru tensed when he realized what he had just said, but what said was done so he should just go along with it. It was not like it was wrong or anything. "At this point I don't think I can be a proper rival… but aren't we already friends? Or you don't want…"

"Yes!" Akira almost shouted his answer. "I do."

Hikaru now felt terribly guilty for not admitting this sooner as Akira looked like he had won the Meijin title. He looked so happy that it felt like a sin to deprive him of his friendship. However Hikaru still couldn't pass the chance to tease him. "Please don't answer it like accepting a marriage proposal." He said in the most even voice he could muster.

Akira as expected was blushing a deep red, "Shindou! You…"

And Hikaru decided he loved teasing Akira as much as shouting at him over a goban.

"And by the way… you do realize what I mean by waiting for you, I will not take pro exam without you?" Akira queried with a smirk.

Damn, he evened the score. Hikaru: 1 Akira: 1

Hikaru groaned, "I know it…" Now if the Meijin's heir didn't join the pro world soon, the go world would blame it on him. Then again knowing Touya, he would keep chasing Hikaru, going pro or not. He was that stubborn.

**Few days later… **

"It's about time Hikaru to go back to school." Heihachi stated in their secret meeting in Eiki's teahouse.

Towa crossed his arms, "All things considered it's going to be easy to get him anywhere… Hikaru-kun excelled in math, history and Japanese…"

It was obvious why, Heihachi added inwardly. "Well… Heiji here already have recommendation."

Heiji whipped out a manila folder. "I am an alumnus from this school, good place, good go club but well…"

"Hikaru got another recommendation through his Japanese teacher." Heihachi added, "Hishigi-sensei's brother is interested in Hikaru… it seems the essay my grandson wrote in his spare time impressed him."

Kazuha-obaasan, Heiji's wife chimed in. "Hishigi-san is a nice young man and fond of Hikaru!"

He nodded, "He guarantee Hikaru could get scholarship for his talent in history and Japanese… so there would be no problem!"

"What school?"

Heihachi wrote down the name on paper with neat calligraphy.

"That elite school?" Towa murmured, "It's unlikely Hikaru-kun would get bullied there."

Eiki rolled his eyes, "Nowadays you can't trust reputation…"

"Why do we have to be worried about Hikaru-kun getting bullied anyway?" Heiji wondered. "You do know he could hold his own ground now…"

Eiki snorted, "Don't worry too much, beside… worse come to worse he would be in go home club."

"Your trust in my grandon's social skill is touching." Heihachi muttered sarcastically.

"That aside…" Towa, their resident 'go walking dictionary', who knew about go weekly as well as the editor. "Touya-Meijin was also alumnus of this school…"

"That means… it's very likely that…"

**"Oh!" **They chorused.

**Park **

Hikaru was not too excited at the prospect of going back to school, considering his short time knowing formal education was not exactly spectacular. It also meant severe decrease in his go time. He also would left grandfather most of the time since almost half of his days would be spent in school.

_'It would be fun! School was fun back in Heian era!' _Sai cheered him up.

Hikaru sighed at that, _'I doubt it very much my school is going to be anything like yours, ani-ue…" _

_'Mou! Hikaru! Education is really important!' _Sai chided. _'And you have to enjoy your youth!' _

_'Hm, youth? How?' _

"Hikaru!" A feminime voice called him. "Hikaru, long time no see!"

Hikaru turned to the source of voice and smiled at the familiar girl. "Ah… Akari-san, it's been a while." Fujisaki Akari was an old neighbor when he was still living with his parents, and they used to be pretty close. He changed and they drifted apart so quickly afterward. She tried to get along with him, learning go to have something in common but it didn't work as she still go to school and he didn't.

She had friends with her, female friends who were giggling at him to boot.

Akari tensed, since when Hikaru was this formal to her? Since… that day? "Uhm… good afternoon… Hikaru. "

"Akari! Who is this boy?!" A girl who stood beside her hissed.

"He is cute! His hair is long… and his bangs is bleached! How unusual!" The other said.

Hikaru sweat-dropped, _'I can hear you…' _

_'You're living up to your name sake, Hika…' _

_'Don't even joke with comparing me with Hikaru Genji.'_ Hikaru shot back.

Akari seemed to recall something and fished out two tickets from her pocket. "Anoo… Hikaru, I have two tickets to Haze Middle School festival."

"Festival?" He echoed as he took one of it. "This Sunday…"

Akari felt like slapping herself, this was not the same old Hikaru who loved festival! He buried himself under old books and Go these days, there was no way he'd like to go to festival. "Would you like to go with me?!" She asked quickly. "I will treat you takoyaki!"

What was she saying?! This was Hikaru, and she baited him with Takoyaki?!

"Okay."

"Ha ha ha I know it's childish and…" Akari's eyes bulged out in shock, "Okay?! You… will go with me Hikaru? Really?!"

Hikaru laughed softly and Akari flushed red. "Yes, I would love to… although I have appointment at one o'clock somewhere else so I can't accompany you for too long." He informed her.

"It's fine! Then let's meet in front of the gate at ten!" Akari seized her opportunity.

"And for that takoyaki you promised…" Hikaru trailed off. "It would be my treat, since you have invited me it would be improper if it's on you."

That was totally like a date!

Akari stuttered at the prospect, and she was getting dizzy. "Uhm… okay… then! See you on Sunday, Hikaru!" She said before she ran off with her friends who were giggling and teasing their friend about her date.

_'And you said you're no Hikaru Genji…' _Sai teased.

_'Ha ha ha very funny ani-ue… I accept that invitation without any romantic intention, it's just that…' _

_'You feel bad for drifting apart from her?' _Sai continued.

Hikaru nodded, _'Yes, but then again it may be fun… trying something new once in a while…'_

**With Akari and her friends **

"I don't know that childhood friend you always spoke of is such a cutie!" Akari's friend, Sa-chan said. "Ri-chan! You have a good taste."

Acc-chan nodded, "Yeah, good looks but…" She trailed off, "Maybe it's just me, but that guy has this mature air around him and it feels off to me."

Akari frowned at that, "Hikaru… lost her mother when he was six and his father worked overseas since then so he was left with his grandfather, so it's no wonder he mature faster than any of us."

Acchan shrugged, "Perhaps but… I just feel he is different."

Sa-chan nodded in agreement. "Yeah… just with being near him I can tell he is different… he is good looking though and that mature personality makes him miles ahead our male classmates."

Acchan shook her head, "It's more fitting to say he is in different plane…"

"He plays go." Akari added.

"Go? That old man's game? So that's why you join go class once in a while?" Acchan grinned. "So it's for him?"

Akari blushed, "Uhm… but I didn't get better and when I visited him once in a while even an amateur like me can tell he is really good. His grandfather said he is good enough to be a pro already…"

"Pro?!" Sachan squeaked, "My dad is total fanboy of pro players! That would be totally weird if he my father fanboy your boyfriend if he make pro…"

"Eww!" Acchan cringed. "That's so gross! And isn't he too young?"

Akari shook his head, "Actually from what I know it's not unusual… but Hikaru seems uninterested."

"His interest in going pro aside, why don't you try to get him teaching you?" She asked curiously.

Akari frowned at that, "Well… his grandfather's house is pretty far… and I am busy with my club too…"

"Ooh that's too bad…"

Akari smiled sadly at her friend although inwardly she apologized for lying. She could spare her time if she wanted, but she didn't want to be around Hikaru when he was playing go too often. It was just… whenever he played go, Akari felt he was so far away as if they they didn't even exist on the same plane.

review please! Feed me!

* * *

**I think at this point Hikaru relent to be Akira's friend already... and Akira didn't show it in canon at first but I think his desire for rivalry is partly because he has no idea how to make friends so he go to the route he know best, compete in go LOL  
However in this story Akira get to enjoy spending time with Hikaru that has nothing with go so he could see what being friends feels like not just rivalry.  
**

**So yeah... good luck Hikaru, one more stalker for you LOL **

**This chapter is shorter simply because it's a good end there... and I think I torture you guys enough with tension from last chapter. SO this time I torture you with preview for next chapter~ **

Chapter 5: Apparently School is harder than Tsumego

"Hand over your gakuran, Tsutsui!"

"Hah?! But he doesn't go to this school! Heck! He is sixth grader!" Tsutsui shouted but Kaga already set on stripping him off of his black top. "Oi!"

Hikaru assured Akari he understood her circumstances and he was not mad. Then he heard Tsutsui and Kaga yelling, and couldn't help but wondered if this how their audience felt whenever he and Touya was shouting at each other. "Uhm… what are you two doing?"

At last Kaga who was physically stronger managed to rob Tsutsui of his black jacket and tossed it to Hikaru who stared at the piece of clothing bewilderedly. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"Now we have a team." Kaga announced proudly, "You, I and this smart ass boy!" Kaga said, pointing at Hikaru who stared at him as if the older boy had gone nuts.

Hikaru smiled at him benignly, "I refuse."

"You lost! Or you'd rather I throw you to freezing pool?!" Kaga threatened.

"I didn't agree to that… I have not expressed my agreement to that ridiculous condition." Hikaru shot back coolly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: School = Tsumego  
**

Akira had just returned from Shindou's house, and he was not surprised that the moment he stepped inside his mother told him that his father was expecting him in their study room. Undoubtedly his father was waiting for him to discuss about his rival, Shindou Hikaru. He passed his overnight bag to his mother for safekeeping after he took out a thin file out if it. His heart was pounding against his ribcage as he opened the door.

"Akira, welcome home." His father greeted, a goban with a replayed game was in front of him and Akira instantly recognized it as his father's game against Shindou few days ago.

The son gave his father a curt nod, "I am home father…" He returned the greeting as he took his seat in front of his father.

"I see you enjoy spending time with him." Akira nodded timidly. "I am happy for you, Akira… he seems to be good for you as a friend and rival."

Akira recalled the first few grueling days of their cat and mouse chase, in which he lost count of how many times Shindou slammed door on his face. Then they would shout at each other until their throat became hoarse. However on the day of tutoring session Shindou offered a truce, that he would tolerate Akira's presence as long as the other boy didn't pester him for games and helped the tutoring session. Akira agreed and soon they managed to act civil around each other and started enjoying each other's company even though they couldn't stop shouting at each other.

He couldn't help but smiled fondly at the memory, "Yes… he is."

So his son could make that kind of face, Akira changed and for the better. "Akira, is it alright with you if I ask about your friend?" He pressed on carefully.

Akira nodded, "Shindou… has expressed his permission that he is alright with me telling father everything I want about him." Then hesitantly he handed his father the thin file he had with him. "And this is… uhm… a gift from him."

Kouyo took the file from his son and opened it, his eyes widened for a fraction. It was a kifu and not of ordinary match but a kifu of Sai VS An Teson of Korea and on the next page was Sai VS Yang Hai of China and the last one was Sai Vs Kou.

The first two kifus were amazing game where both foreign players were playing their best against Sai but they lost. However the last kifu caught his attention the most, so this was Shindou Hikaru's game against his master?

Their playing styles if compared were like two paintings of same stroke but with different vibrancy and color, similar but not quite the same. Or perhaps they were playing the same song with different instrument and in different tempo. Nevertheless their game was breathtaking, one of the most beautiful he had ever seen and this was merely the record.

Sai as expected was a master who was on the level of a title holder; his go was solid, elegant and unyielding. His disciple, Kou, Shindou-kun was playing black and without handicap managed to give his master an admirable fight in spite of the large gap in skill. He could see why now, in spite of outclassed so badly Shindou developed his playing style in such a way that he could make them fight for real to win against him.

"Why this child shows insecurity to be your equal?" He queried in solemn tone, inwardly he was amused this child was trying to bribe him with kifus of all things. "His playing style… his go against mine in that game shows that boy is a player who will not yield even when he is outclassed. It's rare to see a young player like him, then again perhaps it's because his mentor raised him with unusual upbringing."

Akira swallowed at that, "That's…"

He began to tell his father about Shindou's trauma, and how it's been years he isolated himself from go world. How his first taste of playing against other people had scarred him so badly. He also quickly added that in spite of everything Shindou was still playing go, he was still struggling against himself to keep playing. However because the way he was now, Shindou was afraid to disappoint him, that Akira's effort on him might never bear fruit.

"I see… what his mentor says?" Kouyo murmured, inwardly in spite of his calm expression his mind was reeling at the story. For a child so young to be scarred that way, and it was because of a mentor's recklessness no less.

"I never met Sai, and Shindou deems it better for me to not know for now." Akira was not disturbed by it because judging from the way Ogata behaved, Shindou was right that he better of not knowing.

He said for some unknown reason peoples had gone crazy over him and his mentor since their internet debut, and warned Akira to be careful or he would be mobbed. To prove his point Shindou showed him the forum dedicated for Sai and Kou, and Akira had read each post with something akin to horror and confusion.

Kouyo frowned, "I have never seen a mentor teaching a student without shidougo… and it shows in his go, the boy is strong but in exchange… he seems unable to gauge his own strength, and he is fearless against me…" He shook his head, "This is my first time to see someone like him, he is almost unbalanced… what kind of mentor he has?"

"I am not sure father." Akira murmured, "Shindou… seems to respect his mentor regardless of everything, to him what happened is inevitable… sooner or later he had to learn he was unusual, he said… "

Kouyo closed his eyes, and recalled how he barely saved Akira from the same fate when he was five. He had thought it would be good for his son to play against other children; it was a mixed age class though. Akira quickly dominated the class, but it was not until he played his last game against second place in his class Kouyo saw the alarming sign that if he didn't pull his son soon, he would unknowingly crush his peers. Akira was so innocent back then, informing Kouyo how he had to lose that day because if not his opponent wouldn't be allowed to go home. Kouyo had seen the red haired boy fuming and hurt because of Akira's kindness, his son didn't mean any harm and he didn't know better.

That was when he decided, Akira couldn't be allowed to roam free with children his age.

Shindou's mentor didn't have the same insight, and it was expected. Shindou Hikaru seemed to be even more secluded than Akira from go world, and his playing style developed to be very vicious because he always played against his mentor who Kouyo admitted was in his level. He was a child who only had a taste of power so far above him that he had no idea how to deal with those weaker than him. It was no wonder the first time he played against anyone in inferior level, he couldn't control himself as he had no mean to learn restrain.

It seemed his skill in shidougo was some sort of remedy to that, so he could measure his opponent and adjust his strength accordingly. It was a little too late but Kouyo was glad Sai did something to fix his error.

"But even so, you're not giving up on him?" Kouyo asked even though he knew the answer.

Akira shook his head vehemently, "I am not going to give up on him father… I… have been waiting for so long even though I don't know I was waiting for someone like him to appear…" Akira swallowed heavily. "Someone who will always push me higher… to reach a new high, to challenge me to be better, he… is my rival and a friend…"

Kouyo smiled at his son, "I am happy for you… do your best so one day that boy could hold his chin high and face the world of go with you."

Akira nodded happily, he was glad his father now approved Shindou in spite of everything. Then he suddenly recalled on tiny problem, not really tiny or bit but a problem he didn't want his father to misunderstand. "Uhm… father, about his game against Ogata-san… don't tell Ogata-san, but Shindou admitted he was offended by Ogata-san and… uh… taught him a lesson in return."

"Ogata-kun told me." Kouyo couldn't help but smiled at the memory. "It's disrespectful but he is a child… and a very proud one from what I see."

Akira smiled too, "Yeah… he is not arrogant though, he has it in him to back up that pride and confidence in spite of his current condition." Then he added. "Shindou seems to be chastised pretty badly by his mentor for it." He murmured, recalling Shindou's grimace when he told Akira. " Shindou himself is not proud of his childish tantrum…"

"Well, he is indeed an interesting boy, and his mentor is like a ghost…" Kouyo murmured. "It seems our go world is going to be interesting in few years."

In another side of Tokyo, Hikaru and Sai sneezed.

* * *

**Meijin's go salon**

Hikaru was teaching Akira how to play shidougo, which was pretty funny in go salon's patrons' opinion. Their young master took it as a challenge, and for some reason it indeed seemed to be the hardest thing he had ever learned in go.

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"No, you can't do that to 20kyu opponent." Hikaru shook his head, and used his fan as pointer. "It's too fast; they would find it too hard if you cut their shape now, slower… over here first." He pointed at another spot. "It's hard to pinpoint people but… against 20- 30 kyu opponent it would be better to divert their attention here to strengthen and polish their shape before the game entered chuugen."

"Uh…" Akira was sweating now, "I see… that's a very slow game." He was not used to it.

"From my observation in average most of patrons here are 10 kyu and above… so they're higher than average of common people that could come to go convention." The patrons couldn't help but glowing with pride. "Which is why Ryou-kun cried when you tutored him. You tried to play shidougo in a pace meant for 10 kyu student with him last week."

The patrons couldn't help but eyed their young teacher in shock, he made a kid cried?

Akira flushed red at that, recalling how Ai's five years old brother who just started to study at Shindou's house. He had heard the boy had his basic covered already and he could start with smaller board, he didn't expect the boy to burst to tears after twenty minutes of playing with him. He had been flustered and panic before Shindou took over the boy and asked him to tutor the older sister instead. Which was the reason; he was learning shidougo from Shindou now.

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Akira frowned and Hikaru suppressed his urge to whack that frown out of his face. "Don't frown, considering our height younger kids could see it… like I said, I responded with move a 20-30 kyu would likely do… you're going to make them nervous if you make that kind of face."

The other boy quickly schooled his face, "I never imagine shidougo is this complicated…"

"For us it would be… weaker player is harder to predict…" Hikaru pointed out. "Their concentration is also harder to keep on the board and children are especially easily distracted."

"For us?" Akira echoed.

"Especially us who used to play against older and experienced player…" Shindou intoned. "As long as it's not a complete beginner or kids wandering to your tutoring stand, you would be fine..." Shindou assured Akira, it was unlikely that was going to happen in his teaching game once he became a pro.

Akira recalled how ten minutes to the tutoring Ryou-kun was staring at him as if he was an alien and ten minutes later the boy burst to tears. "Uhm…"

"I will let you tutor Ai-chan from now on; you can leave Ryou-kun to me." Hikaru chuckled softly when he saw Akira's glare. "Alright, you can try again next week with him."

_Did he just translate Akira-kun's glare? _The patrons and Ichikawa thought .

"Thank you." Akira returned then he noticed Shindou was giving him a stern look. "Yes… I will pay more attention to Ryou-kun instead of the board next time." Shidougo was harder than he thought, at least to master it to the extend Shindou did.

_So now they could speak with their eyes, they were mind-linked or something? _

"Speaking of which, is it true you're going to normal school this year?" Akira asked curiously before he took a sip of his tea. He had overheard it though, it was the latest hot topic in Shindou's go club.

Hikaru nodded, "Yes… homeschooling is expensive, even though ojii-san has more than enough to splurge doesn't mean I want him to use it on me needlessly." He sighed exasperatedly, "I think it was yesterday he and his friends come to an agreement about my school, they were debating about it for days…"

Akira frowned at that, "You didn't say anything?"

"Well… even though it's me who is going to school, I am not that excited of the prospect of going back to school again… as long as it's not too expensive, and not too far from my house…" He ticked off his list of ideal school. "I will be in go home club anyway…"

Akira sighed at that, "Me too…"

Inwardly Hikaru wondered why his grandfather had that suspicious grin on his face, there was nothing weird with going to a school for interview right?

* * *

**Sunday, 10 AM (Haze Middle School)**

Hikaru looked around the gate, wondering if Akari was late for some reason. Unfortunately he had no means to contact the red haired girl either so he was left waiting in front of the school gate, dressed in his casual clothes which consist of a long sleeved soft cream colored kimono like shirt with row of button that gave it suit kind of look, a light blue undershirt, black plants and blue obi. Ichihashi-san assured him it looked formal enough in spite of looking unusual.

People was still looking though, because he looked unusual not because of his attire alone. He also had answered at least ten people in total he was not cosplaying, giving them Ichihashi-san's address and mistaken for a girl twice. His clothes were unisex according to Ichihashi-san, but just because he had long hair didn't mean he was a girl. He couldn't wait for puberty, just so he won't be confused for a girl again.

Where was Akari anyway?

Unknown to Hikaru, Akari was scrambling to prepare herself for their so called date and unlucky enough that her dog jumped on her and dirtied her best dress. And after replaced it with her second best looking clothes, the bus was stuck on traffic.

_'Hikaru, how about looking around first? _ Sai suggested.

Hikaru sighed at that, _'It can't be helped… I can't stay for too long too, maybe I will just buy Akari-san something.' _ He murmured to his mind as he began to walk inside the school.

_'My! Aren't my otouto a suave man already?' _Sai snickered.

_'Ani-ue… the Hikaru Genji joke is getting old.' _He said inwardly while he once again answered another enthusiastic fashionista where he bought his clothes.

Sai laughed softly, hiding his fair face behind his fan. _'Well… judging from blush they have when looking at you.' _Sai pointed at a group of girls giggling in front of a teahouse stand, they were totally eyeing Hikaru. '_When I was alive…_ _I have seen that look pointed at my direction…' _

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, _'Hai hai ani-ue, may I divert your attention from fair ladies to Go stand over there?' _

_'Go stand?! Where?' _Sai quickly forgot teasing his brother as soon as go was concerned.

Sometimes Hikaru wondered who the older one here was, _'Over there… it's pretty small...'_

Which was not surprising considering Haze was a small school and majority of club seemed to belong to sport category. The sole member of go club had a customer, and unsurprisingly it was an old man trying to solve tsumego the boy placed before him. Hikaru stood behind the customer, his eyes surveyed the booth. So it was a tsumego booth, and visitor won prize with solving tsumego.

He wondered if it was an original idea or a common one for go club in school. He was snapped out of his musing when his brother entered the booth and pointed at one of the prizes, Touya Meijin's tsumego book. He sweat-dropped at that, thinking it would be totally weird if Touya saw the book in his possession. He was also no beginner who needed a tsumego book, and Honinbou Shusaku (Sai) didn't need it either.

But, ani-ue seemed to genuinely want the book, who was he to deny ani-ue?

After the old man left the booth, Hikaru stepped forward. "Excuse me; I would like to play too…"

The glasses wearing boy nodded, "Of course, feel free to try… let's start with beginner problem!"

Hikaru sat down as the older boy placed the tsumego on the goban. Frankly he was amused to be given a beginner tsumego, but perhaps it was how this mini game worked. Hikaru dug his fingers to the goke and placed three stones to desirable place. For a long while the older boy didn't say anything, and in fact was openly staring at his hand.

"Is something wrong?" Hikaru queried.

The dark haired boy sputtered, "Sorry! It's just that… the way you hold your stone is really good!"

Hikaru smiled at that, his brother and grandfather worked hard teaching him how to hold his stone. And he wanted to imitate how his brother would do if the Heian ghost was corporeal, it was childish but he wanted to represent Sai to the best of his ability even in something as basic as holding his stone. "Thank you."

* * *

Tsutsui Kimihiro nodded nervously, "You're welcome… err next problem…" This was the first time he witnessed someone holding stone so elegantly like this boy, like a master. It seemed pretty pointless trying to move on to harder tsumego as just from that calloused hand and flat nails, Tsutsui could tell this boy was an experienced player.

So after a number of tsumego solved so easily as expected Tsutsui gave the boy an orange juice. Actually to win the juice he only had to solve three but Tsutsui wanted to see more of that elegant play, it was inspiring so he gave five problems instead.

The boy frowned at the juice, "Uhm… actually I wanted that tutorial book, what tsumego should I solve to get it?"

Tsutsui adjusted his glasses in shock, "Uhm… it's our grand prize so you have to solve the hardest one."

"Then I would like that very much." The mysterious boy requested politely. "Please."

Tsutsui quickly flipped through his tsumego book and chose the hardest one he could find. "If you can solve this, you're in the same level as Touya Akira." He said as he dug his fingers on goke then began to place the life and death situation on the goban.

"The same level as Touya?" The boy across him echoed in confusion. "I am not sure solving a tsumego could determine someone's level correctly… or is Touya a level on his own?" His tone was halfway between amused and incredulous, and there was a tint of familiarity when he talked about the go prodigy that Tsutsui couldn't put his finger on.

"Well…" Tsutsui trailed off, cursing how stupid it sounded to claim on someone's level based on a tsumego. "You're right… here it is the hardest tsumego from this book."

The boy already had a stone in hand, and Tsutsui wondered if he even thinking longer than a few second to solve this tsumego. Tsutsui caught the boy frowned for a moment before his free hand shot up and caught a tanned hand that aiming for the same point. Tsutsui was startled to see a familiar shogi player who had his hand in iron grip of the mysterious boy, for a brief second his eyes were drawn to the goban by pachi sound. The boy had stood up after he placed his black stone in correct place, solving the tsumego.

"Brat! Let me go!"

"Kaga, what are you doing?" Tsutsui shouted in shock.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at the newly revealed Kaga, a red head who was wearing his hakama slovenly. "Get your dirty hand off of the goban." He warned coldly before he let go of Kaga's hand.

It was then Tsutsui realized Kaga had a gum on his hand, and he almost put that trash on Tsutsui's goban. "Kaga! You jerk! Why you're trying to cause problem in my booth?"

"Huh! I come just to observe, Tsutsui. I see you're still trying your best to set up your pathetic go club!" Kaga drawled in droned tone. "Just quit pathetic game like go and join shogi, everyone knows shogi is the best board game ever!"

Hikaru frowned at the brash newcomer, "That's your personal opinion; don't force it on someone… especially with insulting our game with your horrendous game conduct."

Tsutsui gaped at the younger boy, not expecting someone so young to shot Kaga down eloquently. "Right!" He stuttered, "Go away Kaga!" He growled at the shogi player and quickly handed the book Hikaru wanted. "Here! Take this! I am so sorry for this guy." He said hastily, glaring at Kaga.

* * *

Obviously that was the older boy's way to tell him 'get the hell out of here' in fear the shogi player did something. Hikaru thanked the older boy and clutched the tsumego book to his chest, but he didn't leave as he could feel Kaga was staring at him with something akin to morbid curiosity.

"On the same level as Touya Akira huh?" Kaga spat, "That little bastard is the worse and I have defeated him! I really hate him."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at the red head, "Is that so?" Something was off with the way this person said that he had defeated Touya.

"You don't believe me?" Kaga queried, bristling at the younger boy.

"Does it matter to you whether I believe it or not?" Hikaru asked back. "Beside why did you hate someone you have defeated?" Not that he believed Kaga at all, people didn't hate someone they had defeated in general but the other way around.

Kaga bristled, and Tsutsui quickly stepped between Kaga and Hikaru. "Kaga was in the same go school before with Touya." He whispered, "I didn't know the detail but please don't push him! It's a sore spot for him!"

The shogi player shoved Tsutsui out of the way, much to the other boy's protest. "Huh! You have guts! Why don't I teach you how to play shogi instead?"

"Not interested." Hikaru replied bluntly. "Especially not from someone from you, bitter and angry when speaking about someone you played in the past…"

Something inside Kaga snapped, "What do you know? You arrogant brat?!"

"Considering you couldn't be much older than me, you're not entitled to call me brat." Hikaru returned, he could feel his patience thinning fast with this person, insulting go, insulting Touya and now openly antagonizing him. "And you owe Tsutsui-san an apology for making problem in his booth."

Kaga smirked at that then walked inside the booth and claimed Tsutsui's seat. "Fine! But I will not make it easy for you." Hikaru had a very bad feeling about this. "Come and beat me if you can! If you win I will do dogeza for Tsutsui or whatever! But if I win you will jump to freezing pool in this cold winter!" Kaga challenged, opening his fan that proudly displayed calligraphy for king.

"Why should I beat you to demand common courtesy?" Hikaru wondered out loud, not agreeing with Kaga's twisted logic.

"Just sit!" Kaga demanded, "Don't you care about the honor of Go or Touya Akira?"

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, and Tsutsui eagerly ushered him to go home much to Kaga's ire. "Fine…" He said in resigned tone, it seemed if he didn't agree to this challenge Kaga was very close to jump Tsutsui and beat the weaker boy up.

_'Hikaru? I think this guy really want to play with you to prove a point.'_

_'Who knows? He hates Touya and somehow I am roped to this while I have nothing to do with it.' _

_'He insulted your friend.' _

_'Ani-ue… it's Touya, he will be furious if I think I need to step in to defend his honor.' _Hikaru rolled his eyes inwardly. _'I will just indulge him with a game… in the first place I don't like him placing such things as stake.' _

_'But Hikaru… would you like me to take over?' _

_'Too many people… beside I would like to see if he could back up all that talk.' _Hikaru narrowed his eyes. _'Beside this person…' _

"Your guidance please." Hikaru said in solemn tone.

"Just play."

Hikaru sighed as he placed his first stone. '17-4 Komoku' He couldn't believe this guy wanted a game from him and not even willing to return his greeting.

Kaga frowned as he placed his stone. _'This boy…' _

Hikaru claimed another komoku .

Twenty hands later Kaga began to sweat, _'I should have known from the way he hold his stone… he is good, he match me hand by hand… no, he is easily few steps ahead from me…' _

Hikaru looked up, noticing the way Kaga was waving his fan nervously, _'Just this much and he feel pressurized already, it seems the talk he has defeated Touya is just a bluff… his playing style is a little rough and lack the preciseness Touya excels at but it's interesting…' _

_'I agree… Hikaru! Drag the game as long as you can… I will take over yose if you're not feeling well.' _ Sai offered.

Hikaru nodded mentally, _'Hai… but perhaps it won't even reach there, Ani-ue…' _

_'Why?' _

_'Because…' _

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Tsutsui who was watching on the sidelines, _'What a beautiful play… he is really good, no wonder he looks amused when I told him if he could solve that tsumego he is in the same level as Touya…' _Tsutsui mused. _'We all know Touya is good but how good he is? That kind of vague, but this boy definitely plays at a pro level…' _

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Kaga gritted his teeth, _'Talented brats are all the same! This guy is playing around… judging from his skill he could corner me by now even though we barely reach chuugen! Touya, this guy too, playing around and make fun of my effort! I will show him!' _

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Hikaru frowned at Kaga who started to place his stone with anger and frustration, _'I am not underestimating you, I am just not the type who cornered my opponent from the front like that.' _He sighed exasperatedly. _'Really… he is looking at me but in the same time not really, I have enough of this.'_

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**Pachi! **

Kaga's eyes widened when he surveyed the whole board and the last hand the younger boy placed, _'He got me! Damn! I am totally sucked to stupid ko fight in bottom right, and I didn't notice the center area is now in his control and my formation on the left is in danger of dying!' _

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Damn! Now his left formation died, it was small but crucial to his strategy. The least he could do now was to defend what he had left and…

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He placed his stone and waited for his opponent's next move, however the younger boy withdraw his hand from the wooden goke and looked at Kaga in the eye. Then his lips moved, "I resign."

Kaga stood up abruptly, his temper shot up to the roof. "WHAT?! Why the hell you resign when it's obvious you're leading!"

Hikaru stood up soon, much calmer as he gave Kaga a scrutinizing look. His fist clenched as he struggled to control his breath.

_'Hikaru? Are you alright?' _ Sai asked worriedly.

_'I am… fine! It's not so bad… just my fingers feels heavy, I still can breathe just fine…' _He took a deep breath. "I don't want to continue this game when obviously you're not looking at me." Hikaru drawled in solemn tone. "I can tell from your play… you're angry, frustrated, sad… and it's not aimed for me…" His eyes narrowed dangerously at Kaga who couldn't help but swallowed nervously under his gaze. "Who are you looking at, Kaga-san? Touya? If that's the case don't take your anger and frustration on me in our game. You're not playing with me at all and that's disrespectful."

Silence fell in the air and Hikaru politely ignored Tsutsui's fish like shocked face.

Then Hikaru added, "I don't know what's your problem with Touya is… but if a game can solve it, you can go to Meijin's go salon near Chougo station. I heard he spent almost every day there." Hikaru skillfully left out except Tuesday, Thursday and Weekend he knew Touya spent with him. "Why don't you go there tomorrow get your problem with Touya Akira sorted?"

Kaga stared at him, left eye twitching dangerously. "Are you serious?"

"I am always serious about go." Hikaru returned, he looked to the left, spotting a familiar red haired girl. "Ah, Akari-san."

"I am so sorry I late, Hikaru!" She apologized then she started to babble about her dog, dirty dress and how her buss stuck in traffic. Hikaru just smiled as he listened patiently to her rambling.

* * *

Kaga and Tsutsui however ignored the two, staring at the goban of the half-finished game. Tsutsui leaned closer so he could get a better look. "No matter how I look at it, if this game continue it's very unlikely you can make a comeback unless he makes a grave mistake." He said as he adjusted his glasses. "And I don't think that will happen…"

Kaga nodded in agreement, "He is good, perhaps even better than Touya Akira…" He murmured, closing his fan with a snap. "He lost by resignation but I don't feel like winning at all, we barely halfway to chuugen and he has killed majority of my stones. You're right… if we continue, I can't win." He glanced at the long haired boy who was still listening to the pretty red haired girl babbling about her misfortune. "He is a real deal, Tsutsui… smart mouth too."

Tsutsui blinked owlishly, "Uhm… I know he is good, but real deal for what?"

"For that tournament you begged me to help." Kaga smirked, "Hand over your gakuran, Tsutsui!"

"Hah?! But he doesn't go to this school! Heck! He is sixth grader!" Tsutsui shouted but Kaga already set on stripping him off of his black top. "Oi!"

Hikaru assured Akari he understood her circumstances and he was not mad. Then he heard Tsutsui and Kaga yelling, and couldn't help but wondered if this how their audience felt whenever he and Touya was shouting at each other. "Uhm… what are you two doing?"

At last Kaga who was physically stronger managed to rob Tsutsui of his black jacket and tossed it to Hikaru who stared at the piece of clothing bewilderedly. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"Now we have a team." Kaga announced proudly, "You, I and this smart ass boy!" Kaga said, pointing at Hikaru who stared at him as if the older boy had gone nuts.

Hikaru smiled at him benignly, "I refuse."

"You lost! Or you'd rather I throw you to freezing pool?!" Kaga threatened.

"I didn't agree to that… I have not expressed my agreement to that ridiculous condition." Hikaru shot back coolly. "Beside I have an appointment with my friend here, so whatever you wanted my help for, I can't help you." He said as he tossed the gakuran back to Tsutsui.

"It's at two!" Kaga yelled.

"I have another appointment at one." Hikaru replied, "I am sorry but it's no possible."

Kaga grimaced, _'Smart mouth indeed, he is not fooled… man. I need to change my tactic then.' _

"That said…" Hikaru turned around, "Excuse me, Kaga-san, Tsutsui-san… let's go Akari-san." He said as he led Akari away from the go booth.

"Hai!" Akari didn't know what happened but she was too happy to care.

* * *

**Thirty minutes later **

Akari was over the moon, she never had a date before but she thought it couldn't be better than this. Hikaru was a complete gentleman to her; he listened to her attentively and didn't sugarcoat his reply and very sincere and kind. He paid for her takoyaki, and let her decide where to go. Boys their age won't let her took the reign like this, but Hikaru was different and she enjoyed it.

The downside was, he stick out in the crowd because of his looks and unusual clothes. The unusual clothes for some reason totally suit him, but it looked a little formal like a suit. Hikaru explained where he got the clothes and he wore it because had an appointment with a school at one. She didn't mind what he wore, because he looks good at it even though girls couldn't stop staring at him.

It was fine though, she had him all for herself for the last thirty minutes and that's enough.

Hikaru then excused himself for restroom, and Akari was more than happy to wait with watching comedy drama from theater club. He promised to bring her to one more stand before he left. She almost jumped when someone tapped her shoulder, and when she turned around she came face to face with an intimidating red haired shogi player who grinned down at her.

* * *

**Five minutes later…**

Hikaru smiled benignly at grinning Kaga and apologetic Tsutsui, that smile didn't reach his bright green eyes though. "You're taking Akari-san hostage and I have to go with you to Kaio for her safe return." He repeated Kaga word by word.

Tsutsui shook his head, "Kaga! Give his girlfriend back!" Hikaru wanted to refute that Akari was not his girlfriend but this was not the right time for that. "He has no obligation to help us!"

"I want to kick Kaio's ass! And considering the level of competition I doubt it you can win three out of three matches!"

Hikaru to be honest doubted it very much Akari was in any danger. He didn't know Kaga very well but from what he has seen even though the older boy was brash, he had a good head on his shoulder. There was no way he thought he could get away with kidnapping a girl to get Hikaru to play in a tournament. Especially…

He could see the puffy tail of Akari's pink muffler behind that tree, and he was sure tree didn't emit white breath puff even in winter. Most likely Kaga lied to her with sob story, like how Tsutsui need his help to set up a go club in this school and this was Tsutsui's last chance.

He looked at his watch, it was thirty five minutes pass noon. "Is this tournament in Kaio?"

"Yeah!" Kaga grinned. "It started at two though!"

Sai sweat-dropped, _'Hikaru… don't tell me, you… '_

_'I am pretty worried myself I may get lost, so…' _

_'Ha ha ha… my cunning little brother, you will fit right in royal court. _Sai complimented with a grin.

* * *

**Kaio Middle School **

As expected it was a pretty big school and Kaga didn't suspect at all when Hikaru agreed to join them in condition that they left for Kaio as soon as possible. Probably because he thought Hikaru wanted Akari to be returned as soon as possible. Because of the size of the school it was very easy for him to slip away when they were walking through the hallway. He was careful to be very silent, something Kaga took as his way to sulk because Kaga to Akari hostage. However it was because he was silent, Kaga didn't notice quickly that he had slip off from their little group.

It was too bad he got lost so he had to return to the entrance where the school official displayed the map of the school. "Hm… so the head teacher's office is in third floor."

_'I will memorize the direction for you.'_ Sai offered.

_'Thank you, ani-ue… why I am this blind about direction I wonder…' _He sighed exasperatedly.

Sai sweat-dropped. _'I am not sure wither, otouto…'_

Hikaru was deep in mental conversation as he reentered Kaio's main building, so he didn't notice the car or the boy it drop off. Touya Akira however noticed a familiar two toned haired boy entering the school building, and rubbed his eyes. Then he didn't see the said familiar boy anymore and blinked owlishly. He rubbed his temple with exasperated sigh.

"I should have asked which school Shindou goes…" He moaned, "It must be because Okaa-san keep pestering where he goes and how she didn't mind to withdraw me from Kaio to get me in the same school as Shindou."

It must be nice to be in the same school as Shindou but…

_'So you enjoy stalking me…'_

He knew that was a joke in Shindou's part, as unfunny as Shindou's sense of humor could be sometimes. He didn't want his first and only friend thought he was that clingy, and one of these days Shindou would seriously think Akira was stalking him.

* * *

**Third floor, Head Teacher's office**

Hikaru was overwhelmed by Hishigi-sensei's brother, Fubuki who was very enthusiastic at the prospect of having him in Kaio. Actually Hikaru was not really inclined with the idea, because the school was too big and he could get lost easily. His ani-ue assured him that the ghost had no problem memorizing the school map for him. Seriously, his brother was to guide him in go not to navigate around school.

"Your essay is superb, Shindou-kun… you will start in spring and please come back to Kaio in two weeks to submit all paperwork for your scholarship." Fubuki-sensei said.

Hikaru blinked at him. "Uhm… sensei, we just talked for ten minutes…" He didn't mean to be rude but this person couldn't be seriously passed this short talk as an interview!

"Shindou-kun… you're the politest child I have opportunity to interview, your speech is eloquent and straightforward." Fubuki-sensei explained with a smile. "I am looking forward to teach you in spring."

That's it?!

"Here… " Hikaru accepted the book Fubuki-sensei handed to him, it was book bound with traditional string and titled with neat calligraphy 'Hyouka' on its cover. "This is our annual literature compilation, our classic club is small but we have reputation to uphold… next year we're going to publish smaller compilation monthly."

Hikaru frowned at that, "Monthly publication?" He flipped through the book, "This book is made by student? It's high quality and it would be difficult to keep the same quality for monthly publication." Hikaru offered his opinion. "But of course, it's just my opinion Sensei!"

"I agree with you." Fubuki assured his future student. "That's why it's a new challenge for us in new academic year, and I am looking forward to have you with us."

Hikaru smiled at that, "Yes, of course… thank you Fubuki-sensei." He said before he excused himself from Fubuki's office politely. He refused the offer to show him around, because he wanted to go home as soon as possible of Kaga would catch him. He agreed to have Fubuki-sensei to show him around in two weeks though.

He exited the office and let out a relieved sigh, and then he quickly ran to nearest exit that led to a garden. Hikaru paused midstride, blinking repeatedly when he saw someone familiar talking with a plump old man from the window. He rubbed his eyes repeatedly and when he looked again, there was no one on the said window.

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly as he looked away, missing the sight of Akira sitting on the chair across the headmaster. "I shouldn't have joked about him stalking me, and now I am seeing him everywhere."

_'Touya-kun?' _

"Yes, and now let's go home… I think I need to take a long nap if I start seeing things." Hikaru mumbled under his breath.

"Oh, but you're not going anywhere." A familiar gruff voice said, and when Hikaru turned to face the source he saw Kaga Tetsuo hovering above him. "The game is about to start in five minutes! Damn it! Don't wander around."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "I am not playing."

Kaga's hand shot up and grabbed Hikaru's roughly and started to drag him to the game room. "You're coming with me." From the distance he could hear Tsutsui yelling at him to let the poor kid go or his father was going to hear this. That was enough distraction for Kaga to miss how Hikaru's eyes narrowing dangerously at him.

The next thing he knew his hand was pulled and the world, Tsutsui and the smart ass brat were upside down and pain bloomed on his back as air was knocked out of his lungs.

That day Kaga Tetsuo learned one valuable lesson that Shindou Hikaru didn't appreciate to be dragged around against his wish, and unless your name was Touya Akira you should be prepared to firsthand lesson in kissing the ground.

* * *

**Shindou's residence **

"You know…" Heihachi trailed off to Towa, "Just because Heiji taught my grandson aikido, I don't think elite school like Kaio is going to appreciate my grandson throwing bullies around." He and Towa were talking about bullies they didn't know would be in Kaio or not.

Towa snorted, "Weren't asking Heiji to teach Hikaru-kun, your idea? You're worried he is lacking in physical exercise and you want him to be able to defend himself…"

"Hikaru always has smaller build than average child his age." Heihachi sighed, "That's why when he was young, bullies always dragged him around… how should I know my grandson became extremely irritated about it and will throw almost anyone who did it?"

"Nah~ he hasn't do such thing to Touya-kun, then again it's Touya-kun." Towa smirked, "Hikaru-kun seems to be resigned to most things Touya-kun did."

"Yeah." Heihachi mumbled with a grin, recalling how Sai called it was a miracle Hikaru didn't put up a fight when Touya-kun dragged him across the town for their second game.

* * *

**Because of Hikaru's history with bullies I think it's given for Heihachi to get him to learn martial arts so I choose Aikido. **

**I write different plot than one in preview because I think this is better and more funny in a sense ^^ I hope you will be patient about Hikaru's trauma to heal. It's not easy thing to happen... and I think even if in the end he got over it, there would be leftover scar. **

**I like Kaga's character but he is almost a villain here LOL his interaction with Tsutsui is especially funny. **

**PLEASE don't mistaken this fic as Hikaru X Akari, because I strongly implied it's one sided, they're twelve anyway... and you can see Akira X Hikaru with yaoi tinted glasses in this fic. It's some sort of my style to make broship looks like shonen ai. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Path of Tsumego **

Kaga had never ever known a boy two years younger than he was, skinny and girly like Shindou Hikaru was capable to throw him to the ground. It was not as painful as he thought but the impact was enough to make him reeling and knocking his breath out of his lungs. He thought the boy was just a less jerkass version of Touya, but apparently he was horribly wrong because there was no way Touya Akira could do this to him. Not to mention looming over him like some sort of last boss in video game.

"I refuse." The boy repeated bluntly with a tone of finality.

"Shindou-kun!" Tsutsui squeaked, "You don't have to do that."

Shindou Hikaru huffed, "My apologies, but I don't like to be dragged around as you please."

_'Hikaru… even though Kaga-kun kinda deserves it and anyone but Touya-kun will get the same fate if they dare to drag you around…" _Sai trailed off, _ I think at least you should have make the apology sounds like one.' _

_'I have to make my displeasure known, didn't I?' _

_'Otouto, you're an expert on that.' _

_'Thank you.' _

"But Tsutsui!" Kaga protested as he stood up slowly, "You _begged_ me to help you to join this tournament! Now, you can join it as long as this brat is willing to play, you should try to convince him!"

Hikaru paused when he heard Tsutsui-san begged Kaga-san, from what he could see they shared some sort of restrained friendship and Tsutsui in spite of his meek look didn't seem to be someone who would easily beg to Kaga for anything.

"You don't want to play in this tournament anymore?! You're so sad when your family's business is on bad situation so you can't enter Kaio!" Kaga went on, "You want to join this go tournament more than anything!"

"I still do!" Tsutsui shot back, "But I don't want to trouble anyone for it! He has nothing to do with this!"

Hikaru frowned at Kaga and Tsutsui, "My apologies, but why you're so fixated in this team battle?"

Tsutsui swallowed, "Uhm… since you're dragged all the way here I think you have right to know…" He rubbed the back of his had sheepishly. "Kaga and I are old friends… well for three years at least and we had another friend who really liked go." Tsutsui murmured, "Sato… his older brother was an insei and alumnus of Kaio, he watched his brother playing in this tournament and he really wanted to join it with us but…"

Kaga scowled, "The idiot just have to be stupid enough when he helped a granny to cross a crowded street, so cliché and then an accident happened… that idiot Sato had to save the old woman rather than himself!"

Tsutsui smiled at Kaga, after all this year Kaga couldn't still get over the idiot's death that almost dragged him back to play go. "So… I really want to join this tournament with Kaga at least once…" He admitted in wistful voice.

Hikaru sighed as he steeled his heart the moment flooding sadness from Sai erupted on his mind. _'Hikaru… it's so sad! A promise to a friend to play Go together! Hic! Sob! Sob!' _

He was really touched by the story but now he had to run to nearest water source, which fortunately not far from their location. It was a row of faucet Hikaru recalled installed in school for use after sport activity back when he was still in school and it served perfectly for him to hurl. It was fortunately he barely ate anything for lunch so he didn't throw up much, and quickly rinse his mouth afterward.

"Shindou-kun!" Tsutsui shouted in shock, "You're feeling unwell? Look Kaga! We can't force him!"

_'I am so sorry Hikaru! I can't help it!' _

_'I understand ani-ue! Just… control yourself alright? Please!' _ Hikaru was still a little dizzy but he knew by experience if he didn't stop the source of his brother's discomfort and sadness, he would bound to be feeling ill for the rest of the day. "Tsutsui-san… give me the uniform." He requested, "I will play for you."

"But Shindou-kun!" Tsutsui protested.

Kaga tossed him a gakuran that was two sizes too big for him, "Couldn't you find one in my size?"

"Can't find one in your size, shrimp." Kaga smirked. "Now our team is complete!"

"Not so fast." Hikaru intoned as he wiped his wet mouth, "I will play for you and Tsutsui-san on one condition." He raised a forefinger.

Kaga scowled, "You are really one hell of trouble, brat." He gave Hikaru a resigned look and threw his arms to the air. "Fine! Whatever you want! Just ask!"

Hikaru smirked.

* * *

**Headmaster's office**

Akira wondered if the headmaster was out to torture him with suggesting joining Go club of Kaio, because there was no way in hell that was going to work. He could imagine it was not respect and awe he would receive but plain jealousy and hostility. At best they would act civil around him. He had seen the look Inseis shot him, and he couldn't imagine Go club members who undoubtedly was in lower level than Insei would accept him.

Beside he'd rather sped his afterschool time with Shindou.

Maybe he was indeed growing clingy to his friend, but considering he had been depraved of companionship of a friend his age almost all his life it was inevitable. Maybe…

"I… will consider it, Kochou-sensei." He said to the plump old man who used to be his father's homeroom teacher.

Kochou-sensei smiled gently to him. "I am glad to hear that Touya-kun."

* * *

**Tournament Room**

The nerve of Kaga Tetsuo to shove him to this position! He agreed to play for them, but not playing the first board for them! There was nothing he could do though, since Kaga and Tsutsui had claimed the first two seats and he had no choice but played the first board. He didn't even remember the name of school Haze went against in the first round, but the game was announced to begin and all he could do was starting game preparation. He checked the goke, he had white so he grabbed a fistful of stones. His opponent won black so he got white.

Then again the decision to join the game was made in a spur of moment between his sympathy for Tsutsui and automatic response to make his ghost tutor happy. In short, Hikaru had no plan how he should play this game or what he should do if his body was acting up.

_'Hikaru, should I take over for you?' _Sai asked.

_'In an official tournament like this?' _Hikaru almost squeaked mentally, _'If the kifu is recorded and recognized as Sai like we're doomed if it got traced!' _His brother's style was too distinctive, and he doubted very much after a thousand years playing in the same style his brother could switch without slipping in occasion.

Sai deflated, _'You're right… how about you Hikaru? If people find out that you're Kou…'_

_'I am still young and inexperienced… I can just avoid using old joseki and… perhaps if I didn't win too much I will be fine?' _

_'Hikaru… you're rambling... and what do you mean by not winning too much?' _

_'The game started already!' _

**"Your guidance please."** Somehow Hikaru managed to say the greeting with the calmest stone he could muster.

Twenty hands later Hikaru couldn't help but frowning. _'Ani-ue… this is the first board right?' _

Sai nodded, _'Yes, and I have to agree…' He trailed off. _

_'He is even weaker than Sasaki-san!'_ Who somehow stuck in 10 kyu level since forever and was the weakest in his study group. Hikaru wanted to cry, _'Why the level of competition is this low?! I feel like playing handicapped game!' _Hikaru spared a brief glance at the two boards beside him. _'Uhm… the other two is not much better… Kaga-san and Tsutsui-san will win without sweat.' _

_'I ought to say the difference is skill is too big.' _Sai admitted in forlorn tone. _'Hikaru… it can't be helped.' _

Pachi

Hikaru tapped the clock with a sigh, _'I guess so.' _

The game ended pretty quickly in all three boards, Tsutsui won with small margin and Kaga by resignation. However it was Hikaru's board that baffled them.

His opponent groaned when they finished counting territory. "Half a moku lost! Man! So unlucky!"

Hikaru gave his opponent a curt bow, "Thank you for the game." He patted his chest, he felt fine, no difficulty to breathe and his fingers didn't feel heavy. He could feel frustration radiating from his opponent but nothing worse as it seemed like he won by stroke of luck. So he would be fine if he won by half a moku. But if the next opponent was tougher he had to find another way.

"Oi! You…" Before Kaga could say another word he was silenced by a sharp jab to his side. "Ugh!" Then before he could regain his bearing, Hikaru dragged him to a secluded corner after he excused themselves to their opponents politely. The said opponents could only stare and wondered what the hell happened.

Tsutsui followed them in fear Hikaru was going to beat Kaga up, he had come to realize Kaga was the one who would be in the receiving end if the two got violent. "Shindou-kun."

"Kaga-san, please be quiet!" Hikaru hissed. "You almost protest my play in front of that crowd, are you nuts?"

Kaga bristled as he nursed his aching side, "The one who is nut here is you! Shindou! You could have slaughter that weakling but you play shidougo with him, and you dare to win by half a moku to boot!"

Tsutsui gaped at Hikaru, "That was a set up?!"

"Of course! Tsutsui… this guy." Kaga hissed, pointing at Hikaru who snorted at him in response. "He could give lower dan pro a run for their money! There was a chance of a snowball in hell that weak guy could make him fight for real!"

Hikaru sighed wearily, "I don't like attention… and I will definitely hate it if I wipe the board off of their stones. I won and that's enough… that guy didn't need me to win by large margin, I don't like playing viciously against those who can't take it."

"This coming from the guy who almost killed majority of my formation before he resigned." Kaga grumbled exasperatedly. "Then again… I don't get you geniuses, maybe you're all just the same."

"You're entitled to your opinion." Hikaru returned coolly. "But I…" He clenched his fist. "I don't like it either…" He murmured the last sentence under his breath.

Kaga frowned at him, "What did you say?"

"Nothing."

* * *

**Headmaster's office**

"So when do you plan to take pro exam, Touya-kun?" Kochou-sensei asked curiously.

Depended on when Shindou was ready actually. "Uhm… I am still looking for the right time; I am in no rush to start my career." He answered with a smile while inwardly Akira couldn't stop himself from wondering when this person had enough talking. It felt like hours already!

"I would love to invite your father once in a while… we used to play go quite often when I was his teacher." He said fondly, drowning in his nostalgia.

Akira felt like he wanted to cry because that was the third time Kochou-sensei talked about how his father used to play with the headmaster few decades ago. When this torture was going to end?

* * *

**Back to the tournament **

Hikaru's worries that his next opponent was going to be much stronger and he would be unable to play shidougo was for nothing. As apparently their next opponent was just slightly better and it saddened Hikaru that the level of competition was this low. It was no wonder that online Japan was a laughing stock before he and his brother made their debut. In term of new generation China had both quantity and quality, Korea had no quantity but they had quality in spades, Japan lost in both.

_'Hic! To think when I played with Torajirou, China and Korea player came to study under him!' _Sai wept.

_'Yeah… no wonder I was hunted down by Go Institute.'_ Hikaru thought grimly. _'Thank god, Touya manage to get his father to keep Ogata-pro from spilling my secret.' _

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The last stone was placed and Hikaru couldn't help but wondered why the Go instructor who stood beside his opponent didn't notice a thing.

"Half a moku lose…" His opponent moaned. "Thank you for the game."

"Ishida." The tutor hissed and Hikaru tensed. "You should have cut that shape on the right bottom! You could have gotten two more moku!"

Hikaru couldn't believe what he heard, "That's not possible." Hikaru said as he rearranged the game to follow the suggested scenario. "If he do that, I will respond like this… that move will open a path for me to attack this cluster and he will lose by five moku instead… his choice to defend is right." He explained. "And in five hands, he will be forced to resign to boot."

In instant six pairs of eyes were locked to him, and Hikaru regretted his slip up. "Uhm…" Then he quickly dragged his teammates away. "Guys! Let's start reviewing our game over there!" He said with faked cheeriness.

Kaga sighed as he reluctantly followed Shindou to run away to that secluded corner he seemed to love so much, "You know… you're not going to be in this problem, if you just wiped the floor with them."

Tsutsui swallowed, "But…"

"I can't." Hikaru choked out, damn now he felt a little ill because the last opponent was more than a little frustrated over that half a moku lost. A win was still a win and the one who lose would feel bad regardless of how bad it was.

"Shindou-kun!" Tsutsui called him, "You're a little pale, are you feeling ill?"

"He what?" Kaga almost shouted, "He was fine just now!"

Hikaru shook his head, "The final is going to start soon…" Just one more match, one more! "We have another game starting soon."

"But you are…" 

Hikaru eyed Tsutsui with a look that made the older boy quickly the argument that was bubbling on his throat. Hikaru turned towards Kaga. "Remember, I also have something at stake here… I… I will play and win the next one even if it kills me."

Kaga was stunned and cowed by that statement, "Shindou… of all things to ask me _that_, and you seems like you're going to a life and death match for it! What's with you and Touya Akira?"

Hikaru just smiled at him and said, "Who knows? Maybe I will tell you after the next game."

**"The final match between Haze Middle School and Kaio Middle School is about to begin! Both school's representatives please come forward!"**

That was their cue and nothing Kaga and Tsutsui could do but followed their younger teammate, for whatever reason he played for them Kaga and Tsutsui were determined to not waste the chance he had given to them. This was also for their friend who couldn't make it, they had to play for his share too.

The first thing Kishimoto realized when he sat across Haze's first board was it was very likely, the green eyed boy was the youngest. His fingers were calloused and his nails were flat, even more so than Kishimoto's. This was the hand of an experienced go player, and it alarmed Kishimoto's instinct to prepare for a hard battle. He couldn't afford to underestimate this boy, young or not, beside wasn't Touya Akira around the same age as this boy? A year younger, he recalled.

The opponent in front of him seemed to realize Kishimoto was observing his hand, and Kishimoto was pleased to see understanding dawned on those unusual green colored eyes.

_'Hikaru… this boy is looking at your hand.' _Sai said in nervous voice.

_'I can tell.' _Hikaru sighed inwardly, _'It seems it wouldn't be as easy as my previous match.' _

Hikaru looked up to the older boy and he could see a brief glimpse of challenge on his opponent's eyes. He checked his goke, he had black with him so he picked two stones and placed it on the goban. Soon a handful of white stones followed. His opponent separated two stones at a time from the pile and they had no leftover. Hikaru won black and his opponent would play white.

"Your guidance please." They chorused, and the game began.

Pachi (4.3 Komoku)

The moment the first stone was placed, Kishimoto quickly regretted not joining their second board to observe Haze's previous matches. That was a masterful way of handling the stone, elegant even and that alone made Kishimoto very curious of what kind of game this person played before.

Pachi

Kishimoto claimed the another unoccupied komoku

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Not even twenty hands later Hikaru quickly realized this was not an opponent he could play shidougo with. He could be subtle but that way he couldn't win. This person was not as good as he and Touya, but good enough to put a fight against them. If he didn't play seriously to win, he won't be able to win.

_'Hikaru…' _Sai murmured behind his fan, '_No, I can't replace him for this game… Hikaru want to win this no matter what. I am not that foolish to offer my assistance now…' _

Hikaru swallowed, and smiled inwardly as he recalled his struggle all these years against himself. Come to think of it, he never tried to get pass his limit willingly. He should have tried that, regardless of how painful it was. After all, didn't Touya tried to so hard for him? Why couldn't he try to do the same at least? Touya seemed to believe as long as he worked hard for it, he could get anything he wanted.

Sometimes… Hikaru was so envious of Touya who could work as hard as he could and believe his hard work would bear fruit in the end.

_'Ne, Touya… maybe I will start to do what you do… and perhaps I can be one step closer to you instead of standing still and make you wait like an idiot.' _Hikaru looked up and took a deep breath, his hand gripped his fan tightly. _'Here I go…' _

Sai now was close to apoplectic, never mind he was already dead. Why of why whenever it involved Touya-kun, his brother tended to do stupid things?!

* * *

**Headmaster's office**

After a long painful talk that was pretty much not so informative, and more like a long yawn inducing storytelling from the headmaster at last God took pity on him and he was allowed to excuse himself out of the office. Akira suppressed his urge to groan when the headmaster insisted to escort him out of the school. It didn't help on their way out the headmaster once again repeated the same talk over again.

"Your father used to play Go with me, and that time the building is still small and made of wood." Kochou-sensei said with a fond smile, "It's not as beautiful and clean like now… and there used to be a haunted building over there…"

Akira silently followed Kochou-sensei, his jacket tucked under his arm. They reached the shoe locker area, and when he was about to change his shoes Kochou-sensei called him. "Touya-kun, would you like to take a look at our inter-school tournament?"

"Actually I…"

The Meijin's son stealthily stole a look at his watch, it was almost four in the afternoon and Shindou would be at home by now. There would be a go convention tomorrow and he wanted to inform Shindou about it so they could go together. He also wanted to play a game too.

"Touya-kun? The room is over there…" Kochou-sensei beckoned him to come.

There was no way out from this, perhaps he had to settle on calling Shindou on phone about it instead of visiting.

"Yes, I would love to watch." He drawled, at least he owed this much to indulge the headmaster.

* * *

**Tournament room **

The game was almost reaching chuugen and for some reason he was already feeling sick in his stomach.

Pachi (Kosumi)

Pachi

Pachi (Hiraki)

Perhaps that was because he was playing this game with anticipation of doing it at full strength, and that was why he was already straining himself mentally just by the thought of it. However he couldn't back down now, especially against a serious opponent like this.

Pachi

Pachi (Hiraki)

Pachi

Pachi (Atari)

Hikaru reached out to pluck the surrounded white stones out of the goban and placed it on the goke's lid. He was leading by a few mokus so far, then again he was never one to lead by too much gap from the start. At this state he didn't think he could be picky at how he played, he had used a lot of old moves of Shusaku out of habit. The plan to look like an ordinary player had gone to drain at this point.

Kishimoto eyed his opponent briefly before his attention was back to goban, he knew he was left behind by few mokus. He still had a chance to close the gap. However this boy, all attacks he tried to launch was deflected perfectly. Haze's first board's defense was so solid; it was like trying to ram a wall with his body.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Ten hands later they reached chuugen and Kishimoto could almost feel it in his bone that he was going to lose. If at first he thought he was just going against a strong opponent, now he was perfectly aware he was playing against superior opponent. This was the first time he felt like this since he became the first board of Kaio, feeling the impeding lose and not willing to admit it anytime soon.

* * *

Yun couldn't take his eyes off of the first board game, usually he believed in Kishimoto who was their strongest player and paid more attention to the other boards. However Kishimoto's opponent's play was a sight to behold, this kind of unique and enchanting play was not supposed to belong to a child, one who couldn't be older than thirteen to boot. However Yun could see from the way this child was holding his stone, steady and elegant like a master player. To think a child like this existed, he thought only Touya Akira was capable of this kind of play in this young age.

However…

At first he thought he was just his imagination but whenever he pried his eyes off of the goban , the child, a long haired boy at that; Haze's first board was sweating, even though he had made sure the heater was not too warm because the room supposed to be pretty crowded. The boy was also holding his fan tightly, a peculiar item for a child to have.

When the game reached chuugen, Yun could already see the difference in skill. However there was no way competitive Kishimoto would admit defeat unless he was cornered really badly to be forced to resign.

And now Yun could say it was not his imagination the boy had become paler and paler by each passing second, his breathing was uneven and he was swaying a little on his seat. Yun opened his mouth, he was going to interrupt the game, as amazing as it was he had to do it if the boy was unwell. However a look from those intense green orbs silenced him, _'I don't want to stop here! Don't stop this game!' _Those eyes said to him.

So all Yun could do was forcing his mouth to stay still, while inwardly he was fighting against himself as a teacher and go player. The teacher in him wanted to stop the child from continuing the game, but the go player wanted to respect the boy's wish to keep playing.

* * *

Akira followed Kochou-sensei to a large classroom that reserved for Kaio's go club, and Kochou-sensei noted it was only the final game was left. He was surprised to see so many people was crowding around the players, there shouldn't be too many audience left at this point. It seemed the game was still going and pretty heated at that. He entered the room and suddenly he had a very bad feeling as he tried to push through the crowd. His eyes widened in shock when he got to the front, and spotted a familiar two toned haired go player.

_'Shindou! Why is he doing here and… he is playing?!' _

Akira was about to walk towards the first board but a hand stopped him. "Oi!" An unfamiliar red haired boy hissed at him. "What are you trying to do Touya?! You're going to interrupt his game!"

"This game has to be stopped." He hissed back. "Let me go!"

"And he will want you to do that?!" The stranger asked cynically.

Akira stopped at that and looked at the first board, he didn't know why but for a split second his eyes met Shindou's. His eyes widened in shock when he noticed how pale his friend was and how those intense green eyes looked unfocused, but Akira somehow managed to make out there was a warning look. _'Don't you dare to stop me, Touya.' _

And just like that he stayed rooted on his feet.

* * *

He started to hallucinate, and he was seeing Touya of all people, wearing the same expression when he collapsed for the first time in front of his friend. Perhaps that was his mind telling him that he was reaching his limit, and how Touya would be angry if he knew this. His friend was such a worrywart, although Hikaru couldn't blame Touya to be worried of him.

Pachi

His opponent's turn ended, now it was his. Fingers dug to the goban and he picked a stone. It felt so heavy, he had done this for thousands and millions of times and he had never imagined a tiny stones could be this heavy and his fingers were shaking to lift it. His sight was also getting hazy, as he surveyed the double image of the goban.

Ten, twenty, thirty steps ahead… he could read how the formation would look like by then but his head was pounding as he calculated the endless possibilities and narrowed it down.

Pachi! (hiraki)

By twenty hands later, that move would be a start for invading the right side. By now it just looked like a pointless move.

After he placed his stone, his right hand slowly hovered back to the goke while his other hand gripped the side of the chair as hard as he could. "Kuh…" His breath was wheezing now and the pain was almost unbearable. He had to control his breathing, don't let the pain to take over his control. He didn't want to slaughter his opponent again! He wanted to play against them!

Slowly but steadily the stones filled the goban and Hikaru could almost see his strategy was falling into place.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Kishimoto's eyes widened when he saw the whole board as one, his formation on the right side was falling apart and if he didn't do something it will die!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

It was a good defensive move his opponent made but Hikaru had every intention to hold onto his lead and he placed the hand he knew would seal the game. The stone was even heavier now, but… he was going to muster all his strength to place it. He had to do this to move on, at least a little, a step closer to the hand of God, to Touya…

Pachi!

* * *

Kishimoto's finger was about to dig to his goke but stopped when he realized that last move had effectively cut his escape off. There was still some hands he could play but the lost was inevitable, there was no way to turn this game around no matter how he tried to look at it. So this was it, he had tried his best but in the end this was as far as he could go.

"Makemashita… I resign." He choked out as tears started to fall from his eyes. He shouldn't have cried because he perhaps had played the most amazing game he ever did since he started playing go. His opponent had played so beautifully and he had put an admirable fight in spite of knowing the existing gap in skill. Perhaps it was tears of happiness mixed with slight frustration that he couldn't go farther.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he didn't have to look up to know whose hand it belonged to. "Yun-sensei."

"That's the best game I have ever seen from you, Kishimoto-kun." Yun-sensei said to him with benign smile, "You have played beautifully…"

He nodded, "Yes, Yun-sensei…"

"Ari…gato… thank you for the game…" A weak voice said which drew their attention to Haze's first board.

That was when Kishimoto realized his opponent looked very ill, sweating, uneven breathing and pale complexion. That was a shocking sight and Kishimoto wondered how he could miss that even though his attention was totally focused on their game. However if that was not enough shock, before he or Yun-sensei could move to help the obviously sick boy, sound of clatter and pained yelp drew their attention.

"Shindou!"

* * *

Yun gaped when he saw a young boy he had seen a couple of times in Go weekly, the son of Touya Meijin and famous young prodigy, Touya Akira had shoved a red haired boy out of his way. Considering Haze's second board was much taller and had wider built it was shocking where Touya Akira had that much strength to shove the older boy to the crowd.

"Shindou! Hikaru!" Touya Akira shouted and it took Yun a moment to realize the prodigy was calling out for Haze's first board. He looked panic, so worried, and Yun could see tears started to pool on his eyes. "Give him some space! **Move**!" Voice of a young boy shouldn't be able to sound like thundering in this crowded room, but Touya's did and in instant the audience moved away from Haze's first board.

That was when the boy almost fell from his chair but Touya managed to catch him on time. "Hikaru, please breathe slowly!" He said as he mimicked how Yasuda-san positioned his friend before, sitting straight with his chin up to breathe easier.

"Haa ah…" Yun cursed himself for missing a lot of things, the boy was having a difficulty to breathe and very likely halfway of the game he was already sick.

Akira quickly unbuttoned the oversized gakuran, and quickly stripped Hikaru off of it. Hikaru couldn't breathe and so why he was wearing so many layers of clothes?! "Tou… Akira?" It seemed it was not only him who slipped off of formality, but he didn't care. "I… won? I… can… hh… ah… play…"

"Quiet Hikaru!" Akira didn't want to snap at his friend, but the idiot had this bad habit of keep talking when he should concentrate to inhale oxygen instead of wasting it. "Talk later, breathe now!"

Hikaru gave Akira a tentative nod, and he barely noticed Akira was rummaging his pocket for his medicine. Whether it was his hallucination or not, he could only hope he survived Akira's wrath for his idiocy later.

* * *

Kaga never imagined he could fear Touya Akira when goban was nowhere in sight, but now he learned the younger boy could be terrifying without a goban when Shindou Hikaru was concerned. It was because of Touya was hovering beside Shindou's bed in infirmary that neither he nor Tsutsui dared to step inside. In fact even Yun-sensei, the go instructor was very wary when approaching the go prodigy about contacting his parents and Shindou's.

Much to Kaga's surprise, Touya knew Shindou well enough to inform Yun-sensei that Shindou's grandfather had been informed and trusted Touya to take care of his grandson because Shindou's grandfather was in Shinkansen now to visit a relative in Kyoto. Touya also had contacted someone to pick him and Shindou, and he will stay in Shindou's house tonight to take care of the long haired boy.

From outside of the infirmary Kaga could only see Touya's profile, but that was enough for him to notice Touya's cheek had leftover of tear stain and his eyes were puffy. Touya Akira had cried and it was for his friend, apparently the prodigy was more human than he thought.

He was caught off guard when Touya turned to his direction and noticed he was staring. Kaga swallowed heavily when he saw the Go prodigy for a moment looked reluctant to leave Shindou's side but his eyes gained steely glint as he marched towards Kaga and Tsutsui. The boy was barely reaching their shoulder in height but under his intense gaze, Kaga and Tsutsui couldn't help but felt cowed.

"Haze's uniform…" Touya Akira eyed their uniform, "Can someone enlighten me why Shindou played as your teammates, when he clearly not going to Haze and in sixth grade to boot?"

Now Kaga started to miss the ignorant prodigy Touya used to be instead of this cold and scathing teen. "Well…" He trailed off.

Tsutsui bowed deeply, "We're so sorry! We shouldn't ask him to help us… " And Kaga almost stumbled when Tsutsui pulled him down to bow, to bow at Touya! However Kaga had no strength to put up a fight, and perhaps he deserved this. "We… really want to join this tournament but we don't have enough member! Shindou-kun is kind enough to help us and…"

Touya usually would have felt chagrined at the display from someone older, but he was too angry to feel embarrassed. "Ask? Shindou…" He gritted out, "He is not someone who will easily giving in just because someone ask or beg him to play for them!"

Enraged Touya was scary, and he looked ready to spit fire at them if Kaga didn't say something in their defense. "Well… because he got something out of this." Poor choice of words, but Kaga just wanted the guy to know so he didn't want to mince his words.

"And pray tell what is it he got out of this?!" His voice was rising in volume, and Kaga could see Touya's patience was rapidly thinning.

"He wants me to play a game with you and sort our problem..." Kaga explained in one breath.

He expected Touya to snap at him but apparently his statement caught Touya off guard because he definitely didn't expect anything Shindou got out of this was involving him.

"Or just talk and explain." Kaga added, "He didn't care how, he just want me to sort my problem with you."

"You!" Apparently it didn't take long for Touya to regain his fire. "Have problem with me?! Then why did you involve Shindou?!"

"Whoaa! Did you pay attention to what I said?" Kaga raised his hands in placating gesture, "He _made_ me try to sort my problem with you! I myself didn't see the point but Shindou insisted he will only play for us if I come to you, play a game or whatever to sort my problem with you." Kaga corrected.

Touya gritted his teeth, "I don't care what your problem with me… and it hurts my friend!"

"I don't want to care either! That guy is the one who force me to care!" Kaga shot back. "And I ask him to play Go with us, not playing until he collapse! He could have resigned when he was feeling unwell! We're not that obsessed to win to the point we don't care of his wellbeing!"

"Right!" Tsutsui supported Kaga. "When he started feeling unwell we told him to resign anytime but he…"

"Of course he didn't!" Touya shouted indignantly. "If there is one thing Shindou forget to learn in Go, it's when he have to resign in serious game!"

"Touya… tone it down." A familiar voice said.

"Quiet Shindou!" Akira snapped then stopped on his track before he turned around to see his friend leaning against the door frame of infirmary. "What are you doing?! Get back to bed!"

Hikaru rubbed his temple, "Don't shout Touya! This is not your father's go salon, and not my house so keep your voice down!" He hissed, still a little cranky because of his headache.

Sai had explained what happened when he was asleep, his ghost tutor was forced to wake him up when he heard Touya started shouting. Sai was right because Touya's fuse was pretty short when he was involved and Kaga was prone to be rough. It seemed he caught them just in time before it got worse.

Kaga couldn't suppress his snort when he saw Touya was flushing a deep red when Hikaru chastised him.

"Geeze… and I keep telling you to pick location when you start shouting." Hikaru rubbed his head; his long hair was a little messy after taking a nap.

"And I think you really need to go back to sleep." Touya shot back, "The infirmary will close at six, so you have twenty minutes to rest and Ichikawa-san will pick us up by then. We will talk later."

Hikaru shook his head, "No, I think we should talk now so I can clear a few things up for you." Touya opened his mouth to argue but Shindou cut him off. "Now, I played for them on my own will and I get to make Kaga-san over there to do me two favors in exchange and one of it is..."

"I don't care what his problem with me is but if it makes you…"

Hikaru cut Touya off again. "I want you to care, and I ask you to care as your friend."

Touya swallowed heavily and Kaga could see his resolve waning. "Fine, but pry tell why you have to force yourself to win the last one… you can't set up a narrow half moku win against Kaio's first board like you did the last two…" All of them could hear his displeasure when he said it. "Why don't you just resign, you usually would when you start feeling unwell… it's not worth it to force yourself and you know that!"

Shindou averted his eyes from Touya's, "I don't want to talk about it here… later?"

"Fine." Touya relented. "I am going to stay over at your house tonight, we can talk _later_." Then he glanced at Kaga, "So, now… can someone explain the problem you have with me? Because… I have no idea."

Kaga looked appalled for a moment before he gave Touya a resigned look. "Well… I think I should be angry for you to forget about it, because it scar me for life but then again… you're five… that's seven years ago. There's no way you're going to remember…"

Shindou rolled his eyes, "Right… and you're the one who still angry at that five years old Touya."

"I still don't get it." Touya admitted. "I think that was around the time when my father started to forbid me from joining amateur tournament…"

Kaga sighed exasperatedly and took a deep breath, "Should I lose?" Akira tensed at that, "Did that line ring any bell Touya Akira?" Kaga smirked at him, "Or how about this? Strong players are strong; there is nothing we can do about it… I will just beat you and be number one so prepare yourself."

"That…" A hazy memory flashed in his mind, when he overheard a father scolding his son for being number two and how the father threatened the son with not allowing him to go home if he lost against Akira again. "I…" He remembered that he indeed said that to the older boy, someone he had forgotten, just one of many faces of people he played in the past.

Kaga scratched his cheek, "You're a hypocrite. You sounded unhappy about Shindou setting up his victory to fixed score. You _and_ Shindou both set up a narrow half a moku difference, he took the victory but you the other way around…" He shook his head, "Man… that time I thought I _was_ your rival, but apparently you didn't think so. I worked hard on my Go and you didn't take me seriously at all…" Then he glanced at Shindou, "But looking at this guy… he is the one you're looking for, another genius. You seem to think you're above everyone but him."

Now he could remember clearly, of the red haired boy who used to play with him in that go school He wanted to explain why he let the boy to win that game, he was not looking down at anyone! That was disrespectful! But… Akira for the life of him couldn't deny Shindou was special, and he only saw Shindou as his rival. What should he say to this person?

Seeing Akira's obvious discomfort Hikaru stepped forward and Akira instinctively inched closer to him. It was easy to see Akira had no idea how to explain himself. He better took responsibility, as he was the one who forced Kaga into this. Apparently the he overestimated the older boy's maturity and intelligence.

He took a deep breath, "Kaga-san, let me explain to you how Touya's mind works." He offered in serious tone. "When he overheard your conversation with your father and offer to lose against you, I don't think hurting your pride crossed his mind at all…" Hikaru tapped his temple, "I did ask you when that happened… it was on early February." He intoned. "In winter…" He added, "And your father threatened to leave you outside if you lose again." Hikaru listed on dryly of what Kaga told him on why the older boy hated Touya. "What do you think Touya… a five years old Touya would feel if he beat you fair and square in exchange of making you freeze to death in that cold winter season?"

Kaga looked taken back before he scowled, "That threat is not real… come on, my dad is a bastard but he is not stupid to leave his kid to freeze to death!"

Hikaru snapped, "Five years old!" He gritted his teeth, "You think, Touya knew that?! Is your head is just decoration? You're expecting a five years old boy to know your father was making an empty threat, and he was unknowingly hurting your pride with losing on purpose?!" He drawled in incredulous tone. "There was absolutely no way he knew! Think of what kind of adult he knew since he was a child! Do you think there's anyone like your father?"

"Fucking unlikely." Kaga admitted, wincing inwardly as he began to see the real problem between him and Touya.

"Then! Do you think it even cross Touya's mind your father was just making empty threat? Of course not!" Shindou growled in low tone, "I am not saying you were completely wrong and Touya was completely innocent, but you should be reasonable! You're so caught up on your own assumption and you didn't think from Touya's perspective!"

Then Kaga realized at some point Touya Akira, the all and mighty prodigy had scooted very close to Shindou and was almost hiding behind his friend. He also wore this guilty look that if it even possible made Kage felt more like a jerk than Shindou's words did. No, he didn't feel like a jerk because he was indeed a jerk for hating a boy who only wanted to save him from freezing to death.

"Beside…" Shindou started to talk again and Kaga feared what he was going to say next. "Touya… genius or not I really doubt at five you can fix score to be as precise as a half moku, or you really did it?" He queried as quirking an eyebrow at his friend.

Touya shook his head, "Uhm… I did lose on purpose, and the only example I have seen at that point was my father's forced tie game… I tried it because since Kaga-san played white he had 5.5 moku bonus so…" He flushed red. "I miscalculated…"

Kaga wanted a hole to open and swallow him, because he just realized it was pretty unrealistic to think a kid, genius or not could set the game up so perfectly. So he won by half a moku was not because little Touya was too prideful to give him more than that, it was merely because the kid tried to set a forced tie, miscalculated and ended up losing only by that miniscule gap.

Shindou let out an exasperated sigh, and Kaga could see Tsutsui was torn between apologizing again and scolding him. "Now that we cleared that out, can you sort your problem with Touya already?"

Kaga nodded and much to their shock he fell on his knees with his forehead touching the ground, "I am so sorry Touya! I am the biggest jerk on earth! I humbly request your forgiveness!"

Touya stammered, "Kaga-san! You don't have to go that far!"

"Kaga?!" Tsutsui squeaked in disbelief.

"Touya." Shindou called his friend, "Your answer, he seems like he will go on like that unless you say the right respond."

The go prodigy stuttered, "Oh! I… I forgive you! It's partly my fault too! Please! Stand up Kaga-san!" He pleaded.

Kaga raised his head to look up for a moment before his forehead was back to the ground. "I am also sorry for making Shindou played in this tournament."

"That's…"

Shindou cut him off, "That's my business, I am the one who will be doing some serious groveling to Touya once we are home."

"Shindou!" Touya looked appalled by the prospect.

"Later, Touya…" Shindou rubbed the back of his head, "So, can you get up now Kaga-san? I ask you to sort your problem with Touya and it sorted now. As for second favor you promised…" Shindou trailed off with a grin. "You and Tsutsui-san will agree to play go with us at least once a week, whether it's in Touya's go salon or my house…"

Tsutsui beamed at that, "Really?! Play with you and Touya-kun? That's… wonderful!" That was not a favor, it was like winning lottery! A grand prize!

"What?!" Kaga stood up abruptly, "I didn't expect that but… fine! I want to play with you and Touya again anyway…" He admitted sheepishly.

"I would like that too…" Touya murmured timidly.

Kaga looked at Touya and realized this boy was not anti-social or cold, judging from the way he latched on Shindou, it was easy to tell Shindou was his only friend. It was understandable though, unlike most people around the go prodigy, Shindou saw him as Touya Akira and he didn't expect the other boy to be anything but himself. Shindou saw the good and bad side of Touya Akira and didn't judge. Shindou didn't jump to conclusion about Touya like Kaga did, he learned to know Touya and vice versa.

It was not just skill in go Touya saw in Shindou, but also friendship.

Man, how he could compete with that?

It seemed this time he had been thoroughly defeated by them both, and strangely Kaga was fine with that.

* * *

It was ten minutes later after Kaga and Tsutsui went home, Ichikawa-san was delayed a little by traffic, the two go players chose to wait for Ichikawa on the bench near Kaio's entrance.

"By the way…" Hikaru trailed off, "Why you're here Touya? I thought I was seeing things when I saw you."

Akira blinked at him, "I want to ask that to you too? I saw you once on the entrance, I thought… I was hallucinating because of that 'stalking you' joke." Akira rubbed his temple.

"That's a joke." Hikaru stated in stern tone, "And to answer your question I was…"

"Shindou-kun!" Hikaru tensed at the newly familiar voice. "I heard you collapse! What happened?"

Akira titled his head to the side and saw a white haired teacher, dressing in white shirt and plain blue pants. "Ah?" The headmaster and Yun-sensei was with the younger teacher too.

"Fubuki-sensei." Shindou greeted him, "Good evening… I…"

Fubuki smiled at the long haired boy, "Well, it seems you're fine now… and I am looking forward to show you around in two weeks."

Shindou swallowed nervously at that, "Uhm… Fubuki-sensei, shouldn't you have heard about uhm… my involvement in winter tournament just now? I thought… my scholarship would be cancelled because of that."

"Nonsense!" Fubuki shook his head, then turned to headmaster. "Kochou-sensei, Shindou-kun still deserves his scholarship… right?"

The headmaster wiped his sweat, "Well… but perhaps since that's…"

Touya's eyes widened in shock, "You're going to enroll in Kaio too?"

"Too?" Shindou echoed before it dawned on him, "Oh… but it seems my scholarship is going to be cancelled because of this mess…" He trailed off in resigned tone.

"Well, it's a pity but if even before he enrolls this boy has start breaking rules, I don't think…" The headmaster trailed off.

"Kochou-sensei!" Akira stood up abruptly from his seat, "I will pull out from Kaio if Shindou is not accepted." He declared boldly.

"What?" The headmaster gaped. "Touya-kun, but that's…"

Hikaru gaped at his friend, "What are you saying Touya? You can't do that!"

"I can." He corrected nonchalantly, "Okaa-san told me that it's fine if I want to withdraw in Kaio and join whichever school you're going to enroll. Sure, you illegally joined that tournament, but you also present them a wonderful final game… Haze is disqualified anyway, so no harm done."

"Yes, he played beautifully." Yun-sensei chimed in, "It would be a shame if you're not accepted to Kaio, and beside I have heard from Haze team why you joined them…" He drawled with a soft smile on his lips. "I don't think it's a habit of Shindou-kun to break rules…"

Fubuki grinned at his colleague, "So… headmaster, Shindou-kun still _deserves_ that scholarship we promised, right?" He pressed on; at the time like this his connection with board governor was very useful.

It was easy to see at that point of time the headmaster had resigned from the game.

* * *

**Ichikawa-san's car **

"You guys are going to enroll in Kaio together in spring?!" Ichikawa Harumi exclaimed in delight. "Congratulations! How wonderful!" She said as looking at them. "Kaio uniform will look good on you two! Please let me drop you off on the first day of school! I want to take picture!"

Touya stammered, "Ichikawa-san!"

"Eyes on the road!" Shindou finished. "It's red! Red!"

Ichikawa fortunately managed to hit the brake just in time before her car ran to another car. "My! That was close!"

The two boys slumped on their seats in relieve. "Touya."

"Hm?"

"Let's talk tomorrow, today is too much already." He murmured weakly, "That close call just now is the last straw." He whispered to his friend.

Touya frowned at him but relented, "Fine… tomorrow, I am tired too…"

"Tell me about it tomorrow." Shindou murmured softly.

Ichikawa-san started to talk again, "I can't wait for spring to arrive! My! Akira-kun and Shindou-kun in Kaio uniform!" She gushed at the image. "Spring! Come quickly!" She sang before she burst to girlish giggle.

The two Go prodigies looked at each other, "For some reason, I am not looking forward for spring to come anytime soon."

"Me too…"

School was ten times more complicated than a tsumego.

* * *

**Man! That's the most difficult chapter I wrote for this story so far... so next we start on Junior high arc ^^ **

** I know Sai is almost forgotten... SAI! I am so sorry! I will try to find a way to focus more on him but the main character are Hikaru and Touya ;_; If you have any suggestion I would love to hear it! **

**But well... for those who are familiar with Saki mahjong anime, you will realize I have Toki VS Teru game in mind when writing Hikaru's game against Kishimoto. Especially the part where Hikaru felt the stone is getting heavier. I want to pour so many emotion within that scene. Is it emotional enough? **

** I hope so!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Promising Someday**

Sai always thought of his brother as the most adorable little boy he had ever seen, and not even four years later decrease that cuteness. Then again according to Heihachi, he was looking at Hikaru with heavily tinted glasses of brotherly love. He didn't get what that meant until red faced Hikaru explained it to him. His brother was even more embarrassed when he told the young player that he was being sincerely honest and not biased.

Apparently majority of their unofficial go club begged to differ, as to them, mature and composed Hikaru-sensei was anything but cute and adorable. Ichihashi-san's opinion didn't count as she thought of anything below the age of eighteen or shorter than 150cms cute, or so they said.

However steadily but surely, their opinion changed the moment Touya Akira stormed to their life like a tornado in the heat of summer.

Hikaru for some reason just couldn't keep his mini adult persona around Touya, and vice versa. It seemed to be a natural talent for them to push each other's button, especially over a goban. In fact Sai who know Hikaru better than Hikaru himself couldn't believe his brother had that kind of temper and openly shout it to the world to hear when it comes to Touya Akira. The first time it happened Sai almost took pity on his brother who looked very lost in why he could lose control of himself like that. Hikaru always kept his emotion and temper under tight control, he sometimes voiced it in his Go, but not literally out loud. Sai could see Touya felt the same, both of them couldn't believe how they could behave so out of character around each other.

In Sai's opinion, both had temper but they just learned to use it around each other. It was gloriously hilarious, the first times it happened in public both tried and failing to compose themselves with this sad and confused expression on their face that screamed, _'I can't believe I did that! Why did I do that? How could I?' _

As time passed by, both of them learned it was just how their relationship worked. They could disagree at a drop of a hat and agree in the same time. Whatever, it was not worth arguing over so just get over it so they wouldn't get a headache.

However this time there was no way Touya would just get over it.

Hikaru had confessed why he persistently continued the game against Kaio's first board, and Touya was more than just unhappy, more like enraged.

Then the shouting began, but unlike before it was one sided. Touya shouted about how irresponsible Hikaru was about his health and in general for being an idiot. Hikaru just sat there in seiza as Touya continued his tirade mercilessly. As his temper subsided Touya realized that Hikaru didn't put up a fight at all, he just listened and wore this guilty look. He didn't even say an apology to Touya, because in the first place he didn't ask for one. Then Hikaru being Hikaru said something that shot Touya's temper to the roof again. Somehow it had gotten to Hikaru's head that he was getting better at coping with his panic attack. It continued for a few days until Hikaru couldn't take it anymore and confronted Touya about it much to Sai's disapproval.

"It's not as bad as before." Hikaru insisted, looking away guiltily. "We could try… to play a complete game…"

Touya glared at him. "No! It's just on your head to think that you just have to try and your panic attack will just go poof! I don't want to be your cause to collapse for second time!" He gritted out, "Fainting is a dangerous condition, unlike what fiction and television make it out to be!"

"I tried against grandfather! Before reaching yose the pain is not as bad anymore!"

"You're still in pain! Idiot!" Touya said pointedly.

"But!"

_'Shindo Hikaru!'_ Sai cut his brother off, _'Look at your friend! Look at what kind of face he made!' _

Hikaru swallowed as he slowly turned to face Touya, it was the first time since the conversation began he looked at his friend's face. "Touya?"

"I thought…" Touya choked out, "You're going to die! Every time you have that panic attack, you look like you're dying! Yasuda-san explained to me that… it's possible to… if you…" If Hikaru was not careful he could have died, human's mind was a fragile thing and it could kill.

Hikaru bowed his head, "I am so sorry… I will not ask you anymore, so please… don't cry Touya… " He pleaded, "We can play incomplete game like before… just relaxing game, I won't get hurt… okay?"

Touya nodded slowly, "I know your Go is important to you, but I will shout at you at the top of my lung without care of the place or people if you dare to do stupid things again for your Go."

Hikaru swallowed heavily, "I know it's just…"

"I am sorry for shouting." Touya said as he sat down in seiza in front of Hikaru.

Hikaru closed his eyes, "I deserve it." His eyes fluttered open slowly, "Actually I don't want you to know… but you're there, and you saw me once again at my weakest."

"…"

"I hate it…" Hikaru murmured, "I hate it when I give in to my pain, my fear… my sadness…"

Sai enveloped Hikaru in his embrace and the boy tensed for a moment before he relaxed, feeling familiar weight of the ghostly tutor on his back. Hikaru however didn't expect the extra weight from his front, arms encircled around his shoulders and unlike Sai's, it was warm.

"Touya?"

The other took a deep breath. "I told you… I don't mind waiting, you're my rival but you're also my friend… I will share your pain, fear and sadness…" He closed his eyes, "I am sure someday you will be able to walk forward again without hesitation, that someday will come…"

"Someday.. .huh?" Hikaru echoed as he rested his forehead against Touya's shoulder, and Sai could see the weight on Hikaru's shoulder lessened, it was there but at least it was not as heavy anymore.

Sai closed his eyes as he enveloped both boys in his arms, _'God… thank you for bringing them together, please… open a path for them so that someday will come…'_

* * *

**Kaio Middle School **

"I will get lost." Hikaru said resolutely when Fubuki-sensei was showing him and Touya-kun around the school. It was almost devoid of life because it was spring break.

"This is our chemistry lab." Fubuki-sensei droned, clearly not interested in showing any room that wasn't related to his subject.

Touya sighed exasperatedly as they walked few steps behind the young teacher, "I can't believe you're already thinking of that before school even started." His friend sounded so sure about it to boot.

Sai agreed that Hikaru was very pessimistic when it comes to his direction challenged mind. Then again based on prior experience, Hikaru couldn't survive without a map in hand when walking around the city. He could memorize games and kifus without sweat, but for some direction was beyond him. Once Sai joked about how Hikaru could get lost on the way home. On the same day Hikaru fell asleep on the bus and really got lost on his way home.

Let's say since that day Sai tried his best to not say anything to challenge fate.

"By the way Shindou-kun…" Fubuki-sensei began nervously as they passed the cafeteria and the young teacher took a seat and asked them to do the same. "Can we speak for a moment?" Touya looked nervous because Fubuki only addressed his friend, wondering if he should leave them or not. Sensing the other boy's discomfort Fubuki added. "Touya-kun can stay… it's nothing private, it's just…" He trailed off, "About you hair color…"

Hikaru blinked owlishly at that, "I see… bleached hair is not allowed, it's expected… I don't mind to get my hair back to natural color." He promised. "Is that all?"

Fubuki-sensei apparently didn't expect Hikaru to not put up a fight at all. "Actually since literature is a form of art, in my opinion student should have freedom to express their identity."

Hikaru blinked again and Touya eyed him curiously, Sai guessed this was the first time Touya realized Hikaru's two toned hair clashed with his personality and background. "Uhm… actually, I didn't bleach my hair because of… that kind of reason…" Hikaru trailed off. "Back when I was younger I felt out of place because everyone has natural dark colored hair, and there is another reason but the first is mainly why I bleached part of my hair black."

"Oh I see…" Fubuki trailed off. "Eh?"

"Eh?" Touya realized something was off with what his friend said, "Bleached you hair… _black_?"

Hikaru looked at the two back and forth, wondering what made them wide eyed. "Yes, I bleached my hair black."

"But… if you bleached your hair black, you mean…" Touya trailed of unsurely.

Hikaru shrugged and began to dig into his pocket, and pulling out his wallet. It took him a moment to pull out a photo out, it was old but in good condition. "Here." He placed it on the table. "I was around five when my father took this picture of me and my mother."

It was a picture of a mother with wavy dark hair holding a blond, green eyed boy to her chest tightly.

Touya sputtered, "You're a natural blond?!"

Hikaru nodded, running through his fingers through his dark locks so Touya could see the roots. "It's not obvious but as you can see… naturally my hair is blond."

Fubuki-sensei rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Uhm… but you're Japanese, Shindou-kun."

"I am, but my grandmother from my father's side is French." Hikaru explained, recalling hazy memory of his deceased grandmother, Shindou Ann. "Her coloring skipped my father… I look Japanese although my natural colorings in hair and eyes aren't."

Touya almost couldn't believe what he heard, "But… you bleached your hair black because…"

"I got bullied." Hikaru admitted with a sigh, "I was annoyed they called me names because of my hair all the time so I used my savings for salon, but half-way I got impatient and decided as long as majority of my hair is black it can work… I almost gave my parents a heart attack though." That sounded so unlike current Hikaru but in the same time had a very Hikaru like logic. "But Fubuki-sensei, if I show up in April with blond hair… won't people mistaken my natural hair color as bleached? Or should I just dye all black?" Then Hikaru frowned, "But if my hair is all black, I am going to break the rule."

That was a good point, Fubuki thought. "Well… let me talk with the headmaster, and see what I can do for you."

Sai had a feeling Fubuki's mind was partly in error after listening to Hikaru's logic that somehow make sense when it shouldn't. This was his surrogate brother alright, Sai was told by Heihachi that Hikaru used to be a mischievous child and it seemed his rather twisted and odd logical thinking was leftover of that hyperactive child.

After they left the school, Touya and Hikaru walked to nearest bus station. They were going to Touya Meijin's go salon today to play shidougo. Sai couldn't help but amused when they say next to each other on the bus, Touya couldn't stop eyeing Hikaru's heir, probably imagining his brother in full blond hair. Hikaru noticed Touya's gaze of course, after all he was so used to be the target of his glare.

"Erm… is something wrong?" Hikaru asked, even though he probably already had inkling what piqued his friend's curiosity.

Touya looked flustered for a moment but then again with Hikaru, Sai guessed Touya already knew he was already used being stared at. "Nothing, it's just… I didn't expect you're naturally blond, I have been curious of why you have dyed bangs… I mean it just clash with your personality."

Hikaru blinked owlishly at that, "Hum… actually I just get used to it, I never think it make me looks like a jock. Especially because Ichihashi-san assured me it somehow works with her design."

Touya sweat-dropped at that, "So in the end… you just give up on your wardrobe."

"There's no use to put up a fight, is there? It's comfortable and looks alike with what I wears at home every day, and… as much as I hate to say it… it's free and I am not fond of shopping clothes." Hikaru listed on.

"You mean… in short you didn't think it worth to put a fight for." Touya concluded in exasperated tone. "I wonder how Kaga-san and Tsutsui will react if we tell them about your hair."

"Would you like to know?"

* * *

**Twenty Minutes Later (Touya Meijin's go salon) **

"I know it." Kaga said as he waved his hand dismissively. "He is natural blond, go figures."

Touya looked bewildered at the mild reaction Kaga gave, "You know? You're not surprised?"

Kaga pointed at Shindou who was playing against four opponents at once as usual, then pointing at his own eyes. "Shindou's eyes… is green, light green… fair eyes tend to have fair colored hair." Touya never imagined Kaga was the type who paid attention to biology lesson for sure. "And when I look closely I can see blond roots on his black hair." He added smugly. "The deciding factor is his eyelashes, his eyebrows is black but his eyelashes aren't."

Tsutsui-san was openly gaping at Shindou, "That's unexpected." Then looked at Kaga, "And as expected of you, the closet mystery nerd."

"Hey!"

Surprisingly the boy with smart guy image didn't notice, and then again Touya didn't either.

It amused Sai that Touya looked a little annoyed that he didn't notice that little piece of information about Hikaru when Kaga did. Then suddenly his intense eyes turned to Tsutsui, and the older boy hilariously sputtering. Sai couldn't blame him, as Touya inherited those intense eyes from his father. The Meijin could probably scare his opponent on the level middle dan and below to resign just with his eyes.

"Tsutsui-san…" Touya whispered as he spared a glance at Kaga who was walked away to watch Hikaru's shidougo closely and out of hearing range. "How do you get to know your friend better?"

Tsutsui blinked at him, adjusting his glasses and stared at Touya long and hard. It took him a while to get what the younger boy was getting at, "Uhm… sharing the same hobby." He suggested with the friendliest tone, as he learned Touya Akira was not arrogant like Kaga thought. The boy was socially awkward, even more so than his friend.

Touya sighed at that, "Uhm… most of our hobbies are the same, and I am a complete amateur in music."

"Doing something fun together?" Tsutsui suggested again.

"We play go all the time." Touya pointed out.

Tsutsui was about to say playing go was not the only fun thing to do then again for these two prodigies, they were metaphorically eat and breathe go so there was no point arguing. He was running out of idea very quickly, "Then! How about visiting his house?"

"I almost spent half of my time there, on Tuesday, Thursday and weekend." Touya admitted with a sigh.

In short, the younger boy almost lived there. The older boy looked very close to tearing his hair out to think up another idea. "Oh… but, has Shindou-kun?" Akira blinked, "I mean the other way around, has he come to your house yet?"

"Uhm…" Touya shook his head, "No, but okaa-san already asked before… "

Sai cheered in the background much to Hikaru's confusion, because they were going to be invited to Touya Meijin's house. Touya later asked if Hikaru would like to spend his Friday in his house. Sai was almost afraid Hikaru would refuse when instead of outright yes, his host looked thoughtful. Much to Sai's and Touya's relief, Hikaru only had one problem with visiting Touya's house.

"Will Ogata-pro be in your house on Friday?"

Touya waved his hand in negative gesture. "Our study group is on Tuesday night, he won't be there."

Tsutsui-san gaped at Hikaru who openly sighed in relief. "What's wrong with Ogata-pro?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to be in the same room with him." Hikaru said in nonchalant tone with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Touya sweat-dropped, _'So… he is still avoiding Ogata-san, and perhaps his pride is still hurt from their last game.'_

In the end it was decided Hikaru couldn't come to visit Touya's house for unspecified amount of time, as Touya recalled Ogata-san tend to drop by his house unannounced. Not to mention if he informed his parents about Shindou's visit, his mother won't be able to keep the excitement down. She tend to blurt things out to Ashiwara-san and everyone in his father's study group would come out of curiosity.

Like it or not, Hikaru's visit to Touya's house had to be postponed much to Touya's disappointment.

* * *

The next day an overly cheerful Fubuki-sensei called Hikaru that he somehow managed to convince Kochou-sensei to lay off about Hikaru's hair, especially because there was no rule that forbid it in the first place. Mainly it was because elite school like Kaio never had a student with bleached hair, and never expect they would. Then again Hikaru was not sure how Fubuki-sensei relate his hair with identity crisis to Headmaster, or so the young teacher said. Or Fubuki-sensei once again abused the fact he was the son of board chairman.

Hikaru just hoped he could have a normal school life with Akira regardless of everything.

* * *

**06****th**** May (Shindou's residence) **

It was a day after boy's day and special day for them, which was the day Hikaru returned with his grandfather from Innoshima. Sai, Hikaru and Heihachi always went to Innoshima annually on fifth day of May to pay respect to Torajiro. Sai was amused when the first time they went there, Hikaru piped in that the grave was basically Sai's and not Torajiro's. Shusaku was Sai, and Torajiro was his proxy.

It was odd to think he had a grave on his own nine centuries late.

The trip was five days, so Sai was not surprised to see Touya already visited the day after even though it was Monday the other usually spent in his go salon instead of Hikaru's house. Hikaru felt a little guilty that he didn't spend golden week with Touya, and Sai was amused at what Hikaru planned to make up for it.

"You can show it off to Ogata-pro if you want." Hikaru said smugly, "Although I didn't recommend it since I think Ogata-pro will fly off of his handle if he knew."

Touya was a curious boy, so Sai was impressed he could befriend Hikaru who was full of mysteries. "What could you get me that make Ogata-pro envious?"

Hikaru opened the door to his room, and Sai bet the boy was confused when his brother pulled a silk wrapped goban from his shelves. Hikaru carefully unwrapped the silk and revealed a familiar old goban, it was well cared and looked old, but nothing special. Sai could see the prodigy instantly recognized the goban as a kaya goban, and a high quality one. All gobans in Hikaru's house were made of spruce, and one of it was made of Katsura. So it surprised Touya that Hikaru had one on his own and made of Kaya to boot, and if his eyes didn't deceive him, it was a high quality kaya.

"May I?" Touya asked and Hikaru nodded, then he placed a stones on the tengen. The sound was clear and pure, and it had some sort of mystic feeling on it. "This is… a high quality kaya board, and so old…"

Hikaru nodded happily before he dropped the bomb, "Yes… it's around one hundred and seventy years old."

"Hah?" Touya blinked owlishly at that.

"It also used to belong to Honinbou Shusaku… he had it since he was young, and it still in his possession until he passed away at 34 years old." Hikaru added as he checked the other goke.

Now Hikaru's friend was openly gaping at him, and stuttered. "It's… it's… Shu… sa… ku's goban?!"

"Uh huh." Hikaru nodded, "His personal goban to be precise, the one he kept with him all the time."

Touya sputtered some more and Sai struggled to not laugh at his shocked face. "But… but… shouldn't this board be in his museum or… collector item… and…"

Hikaru shrugged, "My granduncle got lucky… he saved it from someone's shack, rumors said the goban got stolen after Honinbou Shusaku's death, changed hands many times and landed in our shack…" He explained fondly as if he didn't just explain some sort of morbid history. "It rumored to be haunted though and… when I found it; the goban had some blood on it."

"WHAT?!"

Hikaru quickly amended, "To be precise I tested it with luminol out of curiosity… as the authentic Shusaku's goban supposed to be stained with blood because he passed away because of cholera."

"Shindou… your fascination with Honinbou Shusaku had gone pass weird and veering to creepy territory." Touya said flatly. "But I have to say… this is an impressive and historical treasure of Go world…" His finger twitched when he almost touched the goban.

Touya looked very hesitant to touch the goban, no doubt the thought that it was used to be stained by blood _and _tears made a child predictably felt a little creped out.

"If it makes you feel better I am sure it's not haunted." Hikaru added inwardly, _not anymore. _

"If you're trying to give me mixed feeling about this Shusaku's goban, you succeed." Touya conceded. "I am torn between unnerved and awe."

Hikaru sighed wearily, "Actually… I want you to play a game with it, and I hope you can ignore the history as this is the only kaya goban we have and I want the game to be played in best condition…"

"I see, eh? What did you say?"

"I want the game to be played in best condition?"

"No! You want ME to play a game with it!" Touya recited in horror, "Are you nuts?! Using Shusaku's legacy?!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "It's a goban." He said pointedly, "It's not a pretty board to be displayed in museum but to be used to play Go, Honinbou Shusaku should feel insulted that his board is not used anymore."

Touya smiled at that, "Well… you have a point, so should we…"

"I am not the one playing." Hikaru cut him off, and dropped another bomb. "My mentor will play against you."

Touya opened his mouth, closed it and opened it again. "Shindou." He took a deep breath, "You… are going to give me a game against your mentor, Sai-san?"

"Uh huh." Hikaru nodded. "You don't want the game?" Hikaru held up the silk wrap, as if preparing in case Touya didn't want the game so the goban would be wrapped in silk again.

"I want it!" Touya declared quickly, glaring when he saw his friend was grinning at him. "Shindou! You have a lot of fun today with teasing me!"

"I do…" Hikaru admitted with a grin, "I can't resist when I saw my best friend coming to see me at eight in the morning."

Touya flushed a deep red.

_'Hikaru.' _Sai called him, _'Stop teasing Touya-kun, start the game before he is boiling in embarrassment.' _

"Hai hai…" Hikaru said in placating tone, "But bear in mind that my teacher because of some condition is not able to play with you in person." Hikaru said as he pulled out a phone, "It would be a pity to play online so I will make a call and have my teacher to tell me the coordinate so I can place the stone for him."

Touya frowned at that, "Some condition…" He murmured, "Okay, I think I should count myself fortunate considering Ogata-san of all people is dying for the same chance." Then he added, "By the way… Ogata-san was fuming last week because you rejected his challenge five times in a row online."

"I am calling now." Hikaru said as he pointedly ignoring Touya's talking about Ogata-pro. "Moshi-moshi..." Then he placed the phone on the tatami mat, away from Touya-kun's line of sight and turned on the ghost box. Thankfully the newer version had better sound system so Sai's voice didn't sound as creepy and haunting, and more like human's voice. "I will turn it on stereo."

Touya nodded as he sat in front of Hikaru, across the goban in seiza.

"Hello… Hikaru, is the voice clear enough?"

"Hai, sensei…" Hikaru replied softly.

The voice of Sai was light and melodious, it was adult voice but for some reason it was so far off Touya's imagination as he always comparing Hikaru's mentor with his father's.

Touya on reflex bowed, "Nice to meet you, Sai-sensei! I am… Touya Akira." Then he realized the voice was from the phone so Sai couldn't see his bow and flushed deep red.

"Nice to meet you too, Touya-kun." Sai actually could see Touya bowing to him and very amused by his reaction. "I am Sai… Hikaru's mentor, I am sorry our first meeting is like this but it's the best I could do because of my condition."

As curious as he was with Sai's condition, Touya understood he better of not knowing. As Hikaru had told him, it would be easier for him to have nothing to tell to anyone to keep their secret secret.

"It's an honor to play with you." Touya assured his friend's mentor.

"It's an honor to me as well, I thank you for the opportunity presented to my student to play against your father." Touya refrained telling the ghost tutor that it was all his father, but he was indeed the cause for that opportunity. "I am looking forward for our game, Touya-kun…"

"Hai."

"Now… the question is…" Sai trailed off in amused tone. "We will have one game, so what kind of game you wanted?" Sai queried.

Touya blinked, "What kind?"

Hikaru helped him to elaborate, "Shidougo, handicapped game or… even game." Hikaru knew his friend well enough which option Akira would pick.

Touya's eyes hardened as he answered without hesitation. "Even game, just like one you always play with Shindou, Sai-sensei…"

"Very well…" Sai murmured, "You may take black, and I shall pick white… I always play with Hikaru that way."

Touya smiled at that as he picked the black stones goke and Hikaru took white in Sai's place. "Your guidance please."

"Your guidance please." Sai returned.

Touya placed the first stone, claiming 4-4 moku.

Pachi

"4-3 Komoku." Sai's melodious voice murmured.

The dark haired boy paused when he saw Hikaru's gesture changed, he still hold his stone with sublime grace but something was different. His eyes narrowed and there was a thin smile on his lips as he placed his stone. It almost like… he was mimicking someone else, no, it was like someone moved him.

Pachi

He shook that thought away from his mind, he was playing against someone on his father's level and in an even game! He couldn't afford to wonder such trivial thing but somehow…

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Somehow the way his friend acted made he felt like he was facing different person, and perhaps it made him easier to imagine someone else in Shindou's place. An adult with long hair and pale skin? He blinked owlishly, and wondered if he was imagining things for a moment. Never mind, just concentrate on the game.

Pachi

Pachi

As expected of Shindou's mentor, his joseki was old. If Shindou was balanced mix of modern and old, Sai's was traditional with a hint of modern, or rather it was like classic joseki that evolved with modern coating and producing a different and better joseki. As if… Honinbou Shusaku was learning modern joseki.

"16-7, Hiraki."

Pachi

Akira frowned at the last move, so Shindou's mentor also had this habit of placing stone in odd challenging spot to test the water. It was not out of arrogance, if he was just like Shindou, this person was testing and gauging his strength for good. '_However unlike Shindou this person is not n front of me but high and faraway above...' _He couldn't help but smiled at that.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

"15-3, Kosumi."

This person was really Shindou's mentor, down to their favorite kosumi. Then again looking at Shindou's penchant for attacking large area, they could afford using kosumi.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi "15,4 Nobi."

Another habit of Shindou, using old joseki nobi instead of modern joseki hane. Habit aside this person also had this impenetrable defense in the beginning of the game, he won't bulge at all. All his attempts to attack were deflected but unlike Shindou who stayed quiet and content to defend, his teacher balanced attacking and defense in the same time.

The game reached chuugen and the confrontation was getting heated.

This person was not holding back at him at all, and Akira felt like trying to move a thick and heavy wall. He could tell Sai was the same level as his father, but the pressure was different kind.

Pachi

Pachi (Hiraki)

Pachi

He played with his father every morning, and Shindou endured this kind of game every night. It was no wonder even though Shindou's experience was half of his, he managed to get to Akira's level. Then again it was hard to make comparison between him and Shindou, they were equal and that's that. However Akira had to admit that Shindou for all his frailty of mind had the nerve of steel to play against this person at full force.

Sai was undoubtedly testing him in every move, but Akira didn't feel insulted because he knew Sai in no way was going easy on him. This was not shidougo but perhaps an extreme version kind of it. No wonder Shindou's real go was so vicious and serene in the same time, he needed that contradiction to face his mentor's play style. It was inevitable to be outclassed and he had to find a way to put up a worthwhile fight for this master player.

Pachi!

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Sai smiled, this child was indeed Hikaru's equal. He had watched this child from sidelines, but face to face was always the best way to gauge someone. This child had potential just like Hikaru but different kind. Would he grow up to be a dragon or a lion?

Pachi

Pachi!

The game went on and about to reach yose. Akira lost count of how many times he wanted to resign, not because there was no hand left to play but simply because the feeling of inevitable lost was overwhelming. He kept reminding himself that Shindou, his rival and friend had to face this kind of pressure every day like he did his father. However his father was not this merciless, his father tested him but not like this. No wonder Shindou didn't even flinch in front of his father

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi!

Akira suppressed his urge to grimace, because that stone Sai caught just now was vital for his survival. This was yose, and Shindou was excellent at this point of game, which meant his mentor would put even greater pressure here.

Pachi

Pachi

Ten hands later Sai placed the last stone and Akira could see how his lost was sealed. He had lost by ten moku.

"Thank you for the game." He murmured tiredly, panting lightly. He felt like he was running from his father's go salon in search of Shindou again, so tired but in the end he found his purpose.

"Thank you for the game." Sai returned with a smile, "You played beautifully, Touya-kun… very impressive."

Hikaru nodded in agreement, "Did you study the kifu I gave you by any chance? You seem pretty familiar with my teacher's joseki…"

"Actually…" Touya trailed off sheepishly, "I did take a look at those but his joseki and yours have similarities so…"

Hikaru blinked owlishly at that, "All things considered, it's amazing you predicted sensei's move with basing it on mine…" He complimented with a grin. "Shall we discuss the game?"

"It would be short." Sai said sternly, "Hikaru, hand 57… Touya-kun's 15-11."

Touya quickly assisted Hikaru to rewind the game to that hand, "There."

"In here…" Sai began, "You choose to attack with hane, it's a good choice but you should notice the threat on your upper left cluster… in short it's a good move but not the best." Sai stated firmly, "That's the only move I think you should think over, the rest is just the difference in skill and experience to be honest."

Touya nodded, and he was really flattered Shindou's mentor thought he didn't do any major mistake.

"However… I have to say your go is precise and cautious, you made daring offense but with calculation." Sai added in solemn tone. "There's nothing wrong with being cautious and calculative… in fact you can learn from Hikaru and vice versa."

He blinked at that while Hikaru looked sheepish. "Eh?"

"I am sure you noticed that Hikaru's go is almost the very opposite of yours, he is as calculative as you _but_ it's based on his insight… in short there's no solid base on his, it's all his intuition." Sai explained while Hikaru just laughed softly at that, "Hikaru also tend to throw caution to the wind though, especially at the end of chuugen to yose… "

Hikaru now looked sheepish, "In short, I should learn to play carefully with solid calculation." He concluded, "In the other hand you also can learn playing instinctively and taking huge risk when needed."

"I understand." Touya looked amazed by that insight; he didn't expect to be told to trust his instinct and so on. That was illogical but considering the way Hikaru played, there was strength in trusting it. "However… come to think of it, when thinking how you made a hand that work in over thirty hands later… risky is too weak word to describe it."

Hikaru sweat-dropped, "Actually thirty is the limit sensei set… because when I over read more than that, the risk of getting it wrong is huge."

Considering Shindou pulled it on his father, The Meijin of all people he had to say that was an understatement.

"At any rate… I am glad for this opportunity to play with you Touya-kun." Sai said with a smile. "I a m looking forward to see your growth, I wonder if you're going to grow up to be a lion or a dragon… "

And with that the conversation ended, and Hikaru quickly pretended ending the line.

* * *

"And that's that…" He smiled at Touya, "So, how is the game?"

"Amazing." He breathed out in awe, "It's no wonder player all over the world wants to play him." In the other hand he had to say Sai was indeed Hikaru's teacher, down to their tendency to be mysterious.

Hikaru sighed at that, "Yeah… but thanks to that my teacher and I have to use every trick in the book to make sure we won't be traced." He recalled memory from last year, "Around August last year… there is an amateur world tournament."

Touya nodded, "I remember that event, Ogata-san invited me there on its third day."

"I was there on the second day." Hikaru cringed at the memory. "One people talked about us, another joined in and then it turned to a huge commotion…"

"So that big commotion that push their schedule late is…" Touya trailed off.

"In the end I didn't watch anything but that commotion… " Hikaru murmured, "That's also when I realized apparently Net-go is not below pro's standard after all, and my teacher had unknowingly beat some of them including An Teson from Korea."

"An Teson?" That was not much stretch of imagination considering Sai was on the level of a title holder.

"The problem is… we just started for a few months." Hikaru added. "So it's unexpected of us to make such a stir… "

Touya chuckled softly, "Well… when there is a mystery, people would be drawn to unravel it."

"Uh huh…" Hikaru nodded, "And I have no wish to be mobbed for it and some secret is better of a secret forever."

"Even from me? Touya quickly clamped his mouth shut when he realized what he just said. "I am…"

Hikaru whacked him on the forehead with his fan lightly, and the other boy winced in shock. "If it's you perhaps not… if it's you… "

_Ne, Ani-ue? Can I promise that? _

_Yes, if it's Touya-kun… someday… you can promise him that much. _

"I think I can promise a someday to tell you everything?"

Touya perked up at that, "What? When?"

"Someday is someday Touya…" Hikaru rolled his eyes, "It's not now or today for sure."

He sighed at that, "Well… we have a lot of time until that someday… but still! What's with you and someday?! It's like your kosumi!"

"Touya! I can't believe you still want to argue with me about Kosumi! It's a perfectly brilliant move!"

"Not when you play black!"

"I play just fine with Kosumi when I'm black!"

"Or so you think."

"It's a fact!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

Sai who watched everything just sighed, _'They may be the two brightest prodigies of this era but they're still very much children~ Kids these days…' _

* * *

**Kaio Middle School (Spring) **

Touya was exhausted, and Sai thought that was so not the way to welcome spring and his junior high school life. His Hikaru fared a little better after both of them had to endure Ichihashi-san's and Ichikawa-san's overwhelming eagerness to immortalize their first day of junior high school with pictures and video. Both women couldn't stop fangirling about how good Kaio's uniform on the two Go prodigies, as it was tailor made for them.

After the chattering and girlish excitement over two pretty boys as they put it was over, both Hikaru and Touya were sent to school by Ichikawa-san. At the drop off, the two boys quickly made their way to a large board where their class was announced. Looking at the big crowd, the two exhausted boys had no wish to force themselves in to look at their class.

_ 'Class A' _Sai said to Hikaru through their mind link, _'You're in the same class as Touya-kun!' _

_'Really? Thanks ani-ue.' _Then Hikaru turned to his friend. "We're in class A, let's check the map to see where it is."

Touya blinked owlishly at Hikaru, "How do you know that, from here the writing is pretty small."

Hikaru shrugged, "I just can tell, let's go… before…" He trailed off, "The staring becomes worse."

Touya glanced at a group of students; they were staring at him and Hikaru. "Go club members?"

"Most likely." Hikaru whispered, tugging Touya's arm and they started walking away. "We made quite a commotion that day, and I would hate if they start to pester us about it."

Touya frowned at that, "Why would they?"

"Aside from we have quite a reputation…" Hikaru trailed off, Touya for being the only son of Touya Meijin and hailed go prodigy and Hikaru for beating their first board and Touya's friend. "Fubuki-sensei contacted me that Kochou-senseif we asked if we will join Go club, I can't because it's compulsory for me to join classic club as part of my scholarship… and it's difficult to juggle two clubs."

"I see…" Touya rubbed his forehead at that, "I told Kochou-sensei that I will consider it but…"

"But you're not interested either and it's unlikely you're going to be welcome there." Hikaru finished grimly. "I heard it's a pretty competitive club inside… their top members are good enough to be inseis and so on…"

Touya nodded, "But because they are a big club and the competition only have spot for three peoples… if we join in we will attract hostility in no time."

"Troublesome." Hikaru muttered under his breath.

"Indeed." Touya finished.

Sai mentally ticked his personal list of Hikaru and Touya-kun's step of friendship, as of now they had finished each other's sentence.

* * *

The ceremony in the hall was boring in Sai's opinion, as majority of students were yawning and Kochou-sensei was reading his speech from a yellowed paper. It seemed he repeated the same speech for years. Hikaru and Touya looked composed through the speech but Sai knew they didn't listen to Kochou-sensei at all. Both of them most likely were replaying games on their mind. Sai had to approve that was a good way to pass time.

In class it was easy to see Hikaru and Touya stood out in the class, as they naturally occupied secluded seats for themselves. It seemed a lot of students here had friends from previous school, chattering excitedly for being accepted to prestigious school.

"Look, that boy… so cute! Pretty even!"

"The other boy looks like a China doll!"

Hikaru and Touya stiffened, neither wanted to guess who the china doll or pretty boy was. Sai had to laugh at their naivety to think as long as they ignored those girls, they would be left alone. Boys, that was not how it worked.

However Hikaru and Touya were right their hope for a peaceful and calm junior high school life had gone to drain.

* * *

**I fell asleep so I publish this late LOL**

**I hope you like this somewhat Sai's centric chapter... **

**ps: I publish a new HnG story so check "Honinbou's Disciple" out. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Fuseki of Their Schooldays **

At the time like this Akira was thankful that his friend was such a spectacular escape artist, even though he despised this talent with passion at first especially because he lost count of how many times Shindou made himself disappear when Akira was as much as turning away for a few seconds. How Shindou escaped from his own room and when Akira was sitting in front of the only window and facing the only exit door was still a mystery his friend amusedly refused to disclose to him.

The library was also conveniently placed near their classroom. As apparently normal junior high school student usually wouldn't go straight to library during lunch hour, so no girls thinking to check there. It was their first week in school and Shindou already became Fubuki-sensei's favorite student and granted free access to secluded record room that connected to library. It was also another part of Shindou's escape road as the window of record room was right across the emergency door they could use to reach classic clubroom on second floor. Of course Shindou also had the key and he was free to come inside anytime he wanted.

Shindou had abused his privilege a bit too much, but Akira couldn't chastise his friends as they got to escape from girls and the balcony of classic clubroom was a perfect place to have lunch.

"Okaa-san asked about whether I have make more friends in class." Akira began their routinely small talk after he opened his bento box.

Shindou sipped his tea and rolled his eyes. "Ojii-san asked the same, but looking at how these two weeks went on…"

Just because Akira and Shindou were friends now didn't mean they'd have easier time to make more in class. Girls kept trying to hound them, and majority of male population thought they were nerd and hogging girl's attention. No open hostility in their class, but they quickly learned _again_ they were not even in the same wavelength with their peers.

"We can't help but feel skeptical." Akira finished somberly, "I have never think it's a problem before, I just can't fit in… and in general I am in different wavelength from our peers." Then he glanced at Shindou, as if silently adding '_except you'_ to his friend.

Shindou nodded in agreement. "My prior experience…" He trailed off then decided. "Forget it."

In short, it was even worse than Akira's.

It was never a problem to Akira as long as he had his Go before, and to Shindou, whose world was encompassed within his house. But now…

Then again as both were aspired to be a pro, as later most likely they would be secluded from friends they managed to make in school because of their schedule and professional status. Their family knew that but it didn't stop Akira's mother and Shindou's grandfather from hoping.

"Okaa-san ever suggested for me to be an insei before…" He murmured. "But…"

"Your mother is a kind one." Shindou murmured in wistful tone, and Akira felt a little guilty when he remembered Shindou's mother had passed away. "However as you said… it's not going to work. From what I can tell, in Insei, even their top players aren't that far in skill from those in lower rank… not significant enough to make it look like their top member is impossible to match…" Shindou didn't mean to sound arrogant, but as insei in history of Young Lion tournament never made it pass third round, and in their current level they could beat lower dan player that assigned to play in the said tournament

Akira nodded mutely, "Ogata-san said it would be like releasing a tiger to play with kittens."

"I don't like how that parable sounds." Shindou decided, and then again it seemed Shindou disliked anything that related to Ogata-san.

"By the way…" Shindou trailed off, "My club mates are wondering whether you are interested to join our club."

"Your club mates?" Akira echoed.

He recalled the four students Shindou introduced to him yesterday. They were older than Akira and Shindou, there were two more that belonged to senior class. His friend apparently was the only freshmen this year. It seemed Classic club was the smallest club in Kaio but they had good reputation with their literature collection that even got an offer to be published by a big company. It was refused because Hyouka meant to be maintained by student according to their advisor.

Shindou's club mates seemed to be a friendly group, then again most peoples were before they knew him better.

"I am an amateur about classic literature by your club's standard." He pointed out.

"Actually… as long as you have a good taste and have pretty good Japanese you can work under Chintanda-senpai as an editor." Shindou suggested, "It would be completely different matter if you're asked to write something for our compilation."

He was still feeling skeptical to enter a club that seemed only have experts on it when he was a complete beginner. "Well… but about Go Club."

"About that." A white head suddenly blocked their sight and they almost jumped in fright.

"Fubuki-sensei…" Shindou greeted his advisor, "Uhm… you look troubled." He commented awkwardly.

Fubuki was a young teacher on his mid-twenties, wild white hair, pale skin and sharp eyes. He was the second son of board chairman of Kaio and known as the most eccentric teacher in Kaio who had won numerous awards for literature.

"Well…" The white haired teacher trailed of, "You see Shindou-kun, Touya-kun too." Akira blinked owlishly when he was included. "The Go club, that Yun… it seems he want to poach Shindou-kun from my club!" He harrumphed indignantly.

It was amazing how Shindou could continue to eat with straight face as his sensei wailed and moaning back and forth. Then again Shindou was the type of person that took everything in stride.

"Considering my scholarship is tied with Classic Club, my membership can't be replaced to Go Club's." He calmly pointed out to Fubuki-sensei. "Unless I am willing to juggle two clubs in the same time, and I don't think I am capable of that even if our club's schedule didn't clash."

It clashed; both Classic club and Go club had daily meetings with long meeting on Wednesday and Friday. Akira had a feeling Fubuki-sensei arranged this schedule on purpose this year to secure Shindou in his club so he won't be _tempted_ by Go club.

"Then again sensei… both Touya and I plans to take pro exam this year or next year." Akira couldn't help but felt warm when he heard that, Shindou couldn't take it in his current condition but they planned to do it together. "It's pretty pointless to join the club and… there are other reasons too…"

Fubuki-sensei made a serious expression at that as he crossed his arms, "I also plays Go on occasion and I would like to believe while I am no expert I am good enough to be able to gauge player's skill in this game." He began in solemn tone. "I saw the kifu of your match against Go club's current president and I can say you're above Go club's level… pro level, at least lower dan."

It seemed even though he was no genius in Go, Fubuki-sensei always had a good eye for talent.

"I don't know what Kochou-sensei is thinking." He sighed exasperatedly, "But there is no good for the two of you to be in Go club, and you know it…"

The two prodigies gave the teacher a somber smile at that.

Fubuki sighed exasperatedly, "At any rate… Shindou-kun, you're excused for today's club activity as long as you need, Yun-sensei insisted to invite you to his club…it seems the club president really want to discuss his game with you." To be precise Kishimoto Kaoru was very close to beg him to allow Shindou to attend one session of their club activity, just to discuss the game.

Shindou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at that, "Ah… I guess I owe Kishimoto-senpai that much."

As a Go player, Akira could understand it was an obligation they couldn't skip.

"Whatever Yun-sensei want is perhaps merely my assumption, but Kochou-sensei…" He trailed off, "Headmaster is such an idealistic person, there's no way kittens would respect the tigers that unleashed to play with them. Bye boys, I will pick you up from that Go club later." He said out loud before he excused himself and bid the two boys a good bye.

Akira blinked owlishly at the retreating teacher who had been out of earshot, "Did he just say we're tigers?"

"And Go club members are kittens?" Shindou finished.

God, Fubuki-sensei and Ogata-san were in the same wavelength. That was scary.

* * *

**Go Clubroom**

Even though his presence was not requested Touya insisted to accompany him to the large classroom Go club used. Hikaru himself was not that worried about the whole ordeal, but Touya's concern for him was comforting. However Hikaru didn't expect the moment they opened the door and said polite greeting, all eyes as one focused on them.

Perhaps this was how it felt to be held at gun point, by multiple guns.

"So he is the guy who beat our president?"

"Touya Meijin's son too."

"What they are doing here?"

Hikaru narrowed his eyes when he heard Touya Meijin's son, as apparently even though Touya is acknowledged as a prodigy in his own right they still saw him under the gigantic shadow of his father. Touya had stoic look on his face, but Hikaru knew his friend while proud of his father didn't like it when the relation was thrown to his face as if Touya Akira was nothing but lucky for being the son of the Meijin.

In a sense he was, but Touya's Go was result of his hard work and love for the game.

Hikaru glanced around and confirmed their presence was completely unexpected, judging from their confused and wary look they got. He had to admit he didn't make the best first impression because of his illegal entrance to the winter competition, but for him and Touya to receive this kind of welcome it as if they were expecting Hikaru and Touya coming to slight them.

However it seemed no one in club was informed for his arrival. Then again considering Fubuki-sensei's personality it was very likely his teacher didn't promise Yun-sensei more than willingness to mention the invitation to him. Most likely Fubuki-sensei also didn't inform Yun-sensei they were coming today.

"Excuse me…" Hikaru turned to the side and saw a senior with light brown hair and round glasses. "I am Tsuruga, the vice-president… could it be you and Touya are invited by Yun-sensei and president Kishimoto?"

Hikaru glanced at the club members briefly, and decided to delay his reply as the whole club burst to borderline hysterical chatter at the word 'invitation' and their advisor and president in the same sentence. Undoubtedly they already jumped to a conclusion that he and Touya were going to join their club.

"Why the hell they're invited?!"

"Aren't they already pro level?!"

"Che… just because he is Touya Meijin's son…"

Tsuruga looked at his club mates sharply, "Be quiet!" He hissed and at once all of them stopped chattering. "Resume your game." And they did as ordered.

He had a good control of this club.

"My apologies for their rudeness…" Tsuruga said to them.

Hikaru supposed the tension was already too high and his friend was getting very uncomfortable to be in this room. Hikaru didn't know since when Touya developed this habit, but when he was in distress Touya would take a step back and almost hiding himself behind Hikaru for comfort and security. It was not like Touya was weak willed, but receiving the end of this kind of pressure would take a toll on anyone and they were outnumbered by fifty to two to boot.

So Hikaru reached out to pat Touya's shoulder comfortingly and smiled benignly to Tsuruga. "It's fine, and yes… Yun-sensei and Kishimoto-senpai invited me to discuss our game." Touya almost yelped when Hikaru pulled him closer. "My friend, **_Akira_** just comes along to accompany me." He beamed cheerfully.

No one missed Hikaru was in the first name basis when he was addressing Touya Akira, and how his tone changed when he said the name. As if reminding them, this was Touya Akira not just _the son _of Touya Meijin. Touya Akira was not his father, and they should know that.

He smiled sheepishly, "Because I am a little nervous to come here after the commotion I caused in last tournament." He added.

Akira's eyes widened a fraction when it dawned on him why Hikaru addressed him by his given name in front of all of them. He also drawing half of attention they had on Akira to himself, and not the good kind. As if his friend didn't have enough for illegally joining the tournament, and on top of that he was joining to get misunderstanding about Akira solved of all things.

"Shi-" He stropped himself, as if he let out calling Hikaru by his surname that would make people wonder if he didn't think of Hikaru as close friend like Hikaru did him.

Once again silence fell in the room and it was awkward, even more so for Akira.

"Oh." Familiar masculine voice joined the sound of sliding door, "Shindou-kun, and even Touya-kun too." It was the advisor of Go club, Yun-sensei. Kishimoto Kaoru, the president Go club was just a few steps behind him. "What a pleasant surprise." He frowned a little when he realized the tenseness in the room, and how his students looked very wary of their guests.

Hikaru and Akira bowed to him, "Good afternoon, Yun-sensei." They greeted, "Thank you for your kind invitation." Hikaru said, "My apologies, but Fubuki-sensei didn't inform me if there is any specified time for us to come so I assume it to be on the same day he informed me of the occasion."

Yun-sensei gave Hikaru and Akira curt nod. "You're _welcome_ any time in this club, it would be our pleasure if aspiring pro players like you and Touya-kun come to share your insight."

Hikaru had to compliment Yun-sensei's insight to judge the situation. He also implied three things in the same time to boot, first, there shouldn't be any complain about their presence in the club, they weren't expected to join, and he would like to invite them once in a while to play shidougo with his students.

He didn't mind any of that if only these peoples started to act civil and stopped thinking that he and Akira were going to maul them on the goban. Seriously, did they forgot in Go a superior player with manner never ever humiliated their inferior opponent?

"It's been a while Shindou-san… Touya." Hikaru blinked owlishly at Kishimoto Kaoru who bowed at him in greeting and hastily followed it.

"Yes, it is." Hikaru returned awkwardly. _'-san? I am his kouhai!' _Should he correct Kishimoto or not? But it seemed either way it would be taken with wrong context, if he did, it seemed he didn't want Kishimoto's respect and if he didn't it would make him look arrogant. "Thank you for the invitation, Yun-sensei, Kishimoto-_senpai_." He drawled the last part to emphasize Kishimoto's honorific as his upperclassman.

Kishimoto blinked and it seemed the reason Hikaru's emphasized on his status as an upperclassman quickly dawned on him. He didn't mean to trouble Shindou, he just wanted to show a proper respect!

Yun-sensei was sharp enough to notice the awkwardness and quickly ushered all of them to nearest empty goban. "Then let's discuss the game, I am looking forward to dissect that wonderful game."

They took it as their cue to move away and the students quickly followed Yun-sensei's instruction. Hikaru took his seat across Kishimoto, while their observers, Tsuruga, Yun-sensei and Touya were standing nearby. Soon two seniors joined in, Oda, the third placer in male team and Hidaka, the captain of girl team.

Then they began to recreate the game.

Hidaka narrowed her eyes, _'I have seen Kishimoto recreate this game like a mad man for the last two weeks, but to see the person itself placing the stone is almost like a different experience all together…yes, he is good but not just that… his Go had this kind of enchanting quality that make you can't avert your eyes from it.' _

Oda crossed his arms, _'So this is the level of the strongest prodigy in our generation…' _He glanced to the side, where Touya Akira stood right behind his friend. _'This person too…' _

The recreation stopped when the game not even reaching chuugen and Kishimoto was surprised Shindou had started the discussion when the game was still in fuseki. Nothing unusual to dissect a game in detail, but Kishimoto couldn't see anything worth to be discussed at this point.

He was wrong.

"Start from this opening move and to the next twenty hands, Kishimoto-senpai has almost strictly following text book joseki." Shindou Hikaru said, there was no arrogance in his voice as he replayed Kishimoto's moves with ease. "It's a good strategy normally however…" Then he started to explain his own strategy.

Basically Kishimoto was good but not flexible, and not reading the board enough to adjust his strategy quickly. His play was too conventional and predictable; however he had a good head on his shoulder, quick analysis skill and good at judging situation.

"This move in 9-15 is good but not the best or the strongest." Shindou Hikaru continued, seemingly unaware of open mouthed gape they shot him. He just went on steamrolling his analysis and Kishimoto was hanging to his every word. Hidaka thought if he had a note and a pencil, the Go club president was going to start taking notes.

Hidaka couldn't blame him, because listening to this boy was feeling like in tutoring session with a pro, a serious tutoring session and not one time thing shidougo in convention.

"Then how about this move." Kishimoto tried as he changed his 78th hand.

Pachi

"Interesting choice." Shindou Hikaru commented, "Then it will make me respond like this."

Pachi

Another dead end for Kishimoto, Hidaka was well aware Touya and this boy were in another level from them but this… it was like an impossibly high mountain to climb for them. She had no intention to be an insei or pro, but to have these guys on the top would be mixed blessing. They were the nearest measuring stick because of their age but in the same time they also felt the farthest because there was no comfort they were better because of experience, they were just… talented. Plain and simple, it was almost sickening.

"Thank you very much." Kishimoto's word snapped her out of her thought; she didn't even know that the game had been created till the end when Kishimoto resigned. She had to say it was very admirable of Kishimoto to hold on until this point, because had it been her, she would have resigned around twenty hands before Kishimoto did. She had to respect Shindou Hikaru's skill but it was her respect on Kishimoto that had gone up a notch for fighting until his very last breath. He was so badly dominated but resigned only when all of his escape routes were cut off.

"Shindou-kun." Yun-sensei called the freshman. "You would be a wonderful teacher once you become a pro."

Hidaka was surprised to see Touya Akira's shoulders were shaking a little as he turned to face the wall. Then after the prodigy could suppress his mirth, he shot his friend a knowing look that returned by Shindou Hikaru with exasperated look. These two were really close, did they just communicate with just looks?

_'I want to see them playing with each other.' _She couldn't help but thought.

Unknown to her, Yun, Kishimoto, Tsuruga and Aoki had the same thought running on their mind.

"Yun-sensei!" A loud booming voice echoed together dramatic door sliding, "Give us our Shindou-kun back!"

Shindou looked rightfully flustered, "Fubuki-sensei! Senpai! What are you guys doing?"

"Dramatic rescue." Houtarou Oreki, the vice-president of Classic club droned on. "Or so Fubuki-sensei said."

"Oreki-kun! Please sounds more enthusiastic about it." Fubuki scolded his student.

Fukube-senpai's light brown haired head poked out, "In short, Shindou-kun… please come back before Fubuki-sensei is driven to insanity because of your absence, and he embarrassed us more than he already did. Houtarou didn't care but I do and Chitanda-san is dying with worry now."

In short, the club was in chaos.

Shindou just stared at his insane club mates and said, "Yes, senpai. I will be back soon, please take care of Fubuki-sensei for the time being." Which apparently double get him the hell out of here, as Fukube and Oreki grab their teacher and fled the room. Shindou apparently while more casual was a formal freak like Touya when the need arise, he gave them a low respectful bow and said. "My apologies for the disruption from my club and… teacher." He said, and somehow managed to sound awkward but sincerely polite in the same time.

Then he and Touya left the room with proper Japanese manner that make Hidaka thought they were raised in Heian era and not the present. Shindou was a little off though when he muttered something to Yun-sensei before he left, and their teacher nodded before glancing at Kishimoto.

Something was fishy.

* * *

Then the next day the Go prodigy was back to their clubroom, but discreetly and his other prodigious friend, Touya Akira was with him too. Hidaka would never caught them visiting if not because she was browsing old kifu in storeroom out of boredom, because they visited when all club members had gone home save for their club president and Yun-sensei.

She was eavesdropping and she didn't care it was impolite because Shindou Hikaru asked Kishimoto to play with Touya Akira. It was an even game it seemed and she stepped inside to look closer, no one paid attention to her. They were absorbed watching Touya's game against Kishimoto.

It was a slaughter.

If Shindou Hikaru's game had this fluid grace and subtle fierceness, Touya Akira's was precise and deadly, no mercy at all. The game didn't even reach mid chuugen when Kishimoto resigned.

"Shall we discuss it." Touya Akira offered.

Kishimoto took a deep breath and said, "I don't think there is anything we could discuss, you outclass me."

What these two wanted?! Humiliating Kishimoto like this?

So she opened her mouth and said her mind out loud to their face. Yun-sensei looked scandalized by her outburst, Touya looked the same and Shindou had this resigned look on his face.

"Hidaka-kun!" Yun-sensei scolded her. "Shindou-kun and Touya-kun are doing this as a favor for Kishimoto-kun."

"A favor?" She echoed incredulously, "This game is a slaughter!"

"Because Kishimoto-senpai let Akira did it." He said coolly as he reached out to rearrange the stone. "Hand 87th, Kishimoto-senpai gave up the ko fight in upper right corner… when it's a difficult battle to gain territories, he could have more hand that at least will gain him some more moku…" Then he moved on to other territory, "In middle area, this cluster is dead but there's a way to keep it alive… here." He placed the stone two grid below tengen. "But Kishimoto-senpai gave up to keep them alive…" Then he went on with his analysis, most were repetitive about Kishimoto gave up the fight too early.

As much as Hidaka hated it, she had to admit Shindou Hikaru was right. Kishimoto was no prodigy like them but she knew he was skilled enough to pull off all moves Shindou pointed out, but he backed down from the fight.

Then Hidaka understood what Shindou wanted to tell Kishimoto, _'You give up when it get's hard.'_

But Kishimoto didn't do that in his game against Shindou! Why did he do that when he played with Touya? Sure, Touya was more aggressive but their ability was roughly on the same level!

"You did well against Shindou-kun." Yun-sensei complimented before he frowned, "I didn't notice this until the game discussion where you and Shindou-kun tried different scenario, and that's when I saw you giving up a lot of fight…"

Kishimoto stayed rooted on his seat and didn't say anything.

"It's because…" Shindou trailed off, "Because he is scared…"

"Shindou!" Hidaka hissed in Kishimoto's defense.

"I didn't mean it to sound as an insult." He said in even tone. "It's not, and the fear he has happened to the best of us including me."

That made all of them pause.

He sighed exasperatedly, "In Go, it's inevitable you will get to certain level where you notice difference in skill… that you're outclassed so badly that you have no chance to win." Then he continued. "However only a handful of player get to the point they stuck on that level and in regular basis is facing opponents with skill far above them… they saw the blade and afraid to go any further in fear to get their head lopped off." He explained. "It's a slump, and a bad one."

Kishimoto swallowed, "I used to be an insei, I had a pretty good record in second class but in first class I can't win at all and quit."

"And you never recover because you ignore it."

Hidaka also knew Shindou was holding back the part where their club possessed no challenge to Kishimoto enough that no one realized this fatal weakness of their president. In short for Kishimoto to be in this club was just lulling himself, and did no good for him and his insecurity.

"Yes, but somehow when I played against Shindou-san in that tournament… I know I am going to lose but I didn't…" He didn't resign until he was really had lost. "Why?"

He shook his head, "I don't know but…" Shindou trailed off, "Fear will never go away unless you face it, no matter how hard it is… in the end you have to face your fear head on to move on to the future."

Kishimoto seemed a little lost at that, but Hidaka for some reason felt perhaps they had given Kishimoto exactly what he need.

* * *

She didn't know what possessed her to follow them after that game and heart to heart talk, but she did anyway. Perhaps she just couldn't control her curiosity about them. They were walking ahead of her to the nearest bus station, one that in opposite direction of the one she usually took.

"Ne… Hikaru, the reason Kishimoto-senpai can play with his full power against you… is it because you're playing shidougo with him?" Touya asked Shindou.

Hidaka couldn't believe what she hard, _that game was shidougo? _

He shook his head. "It's not… it's true I didn't play to kill but I definitely wasn't going easy on him at all."

"I saw some scattered part of your shidougo in that game." Touya added.

"Of course." Shindou rolled his eyes, he _rolled his eyes_ at Touya Akira. "I play shidougo all the time… it's part of my experience so I use it as a training to manipulate my opponent's moves too…"

Touya narrowed his eyes at his friend, "I see… is it just me or your Go is getting ominous as time passed? Now you lead your opponent by their nose." Hidaka strained her ears and couldn't believe she heard the joking tone on Touya Akira's voice.

"This coming from the guy who has zero mercy on goban?" He returned. "You're pushing Kishimoto-senpai a bit too hard."

"You asked." Touya said pointedly, "And in case you forget, you did say I still need brushing up in adjusting my play level."

On that bright afternoon in spring Hidaka gave up understanding prodigy, as they were just beyond her in go and mind.

* * *

**Touya's Residence**

"Akira is not home?" Ashiwara echoed in disbelief. "At this hour?"

The Meijin nodded, "He always sleeps over at his friend house on the weekend." From Friday to Saturday, and even though weekend was family time Kouyou thought Akira deserved all the time in the world with his first friend. They still had Sunday all for themselves after all.

"Friend?!" Ashiwara echoed.

The Meijin suppressed his urge to feel offended by his student's innocent outburst as he had to admit he was also skeptical when he heard about Akira making his very first friend. "Yes…"

"Is it for school project?"

Apparently even Ashiwara had no faith in Akira's social skill, and considering for twelve years they didn't hear a peep about Akira bringing friend over or playing with children his age, he couldn't blame them. Ashiwara was the closest to friend Akira had before Shindou. Ashiwara also ever told him about how his son so quickly forgetting about the child Meijin champion who challenged him out of arrogance, just in span of short time that even make Ashiwara stared at Akira incredulously.

Shindou Hikaru-kun in the other hand was the rival Akira wanted, so much to the point he brooded for one month in their Go salon to wait for the boy, run across the town to drag the boy to have another game with him, and chased the boy all the way to his house.

Ogata snorted, "It's Shindou right?" The _'who else' _was not said but implied.

Ashiwara looked at his senior curiously, "You know Akira's friend? Shindou? Does he play Go?"

"He is also Akira-kun's rival." Ogata revealed, "Although for now the rivalry is still under closet or sort…"

At least Ogata had enough sense to not disclose Shindou's internet identity although as far as Kouyo knew, all of his students with exception of Ogata didn't play Net-Go.

Ashiwara beamed, "I am glad to hear that, no wonder Akira looks so cheerful lately! I didn't see him much for the last few months, and now he has a friend! So how good he is?" Of course as happy Ashiwara was for Akira, it all boiled down to the question how good the said friend was to attract Akira's attention.

"You will find out later, although… it would be a while until Akira bring Shindou-kun over." The Meijin said with a tone that implied the discussion was over. "And don't pester Akira about it, he is pretty protective of his friend and I respect their privacy."

Ashiwara looked disappointed but willing to wait, and Ogata had a morbid thought he was like a puppy being told to wait from eating his favorite snack.

* * *

**Shindou's residence **

"So, since when you two concede to drop the formality and call each other with family name?" Shindou Heihachi asked the two boys who were busy working on their homework that due in three days. "Not that I didn't expect it, and honestly Ojii-san thinks it's due and pretty dumb you guys keep calling each other with surname…"

Akira was blushing and his grandson just shrugged nonchalantly. "Uhm… since we decide it's better to make it clear at school that we're close friends." Hikaru gave his answer bluntly.

"Hikaru!"

"What?!"

Here we go again, and Heihachi wisely exited the study room the moment they got to repetitive 'Is not' and 'Is too' to leave the two boys settled their argument until they ran out of air to shout.

"But!"

"You have a better answer?" Hikaru quirked an eyebrow at his friend, panting lightly. "People already have this impression of 'birds of a feather flock together' on us." He said in droning tone. "They already have their own assumption on us and I'd rather not try to correct it."

"Assumption?" Akira echoed. "The usual?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "The Go club members at least… with exception of Kishimoto-senpai and Tsuruga-senpai."

Akira grimaced, "Hidaka-senpai seems to dislike us…"

"Nah… who knows, I have a feeling she think I just naturally ruffling her feather in everything I did." Hikaru corrected, "You're just dragged along with me in her opinion."

He frowned at Hikaru, "Well… I understand you want to help Kishimoto-senpai, but giving him a harsh game is a little…"

"I just feel it's not right to leave him unaware of his problem…." Hikaru retorted, "In the end it's up to him whether he want to stay in his happy bubble or try to move on." He narrowed his eyes, "Me too… I don't want to walk so slow like this forever…"

Akira swallowed and said, "You promise me that you're not going to do stupid things again." He took a deep breath, "And that including risking your health… and drawing general hostility to yourself!"

"General hostility?" Hikaru snorted, "I did no such thing, it's already there… we draw it upon us like moth to flame. Frankly they're ridiculous, we're not even part of their club but they feel threatened by us…" He closed his eyes. "That's why, Akira… if possible don't go anywhere near their club if I am not around."

Akira blinked owlishly at that. "Why?"

"It seems Yun-sensei chose his words a little poorly about our skill." He murmured, "Fukube-senpai told me that nowadays the club members are under impression Yun-sensei want us to spare time to tutor them."

The Meijin's son frowned at that, "He did not offer such thing!"

"He implied it." Hikaru corrected, "And that ruffled their feather the wrong way… we're freshmen, majority of Go club are seniors. It hurts their pride as upperclassmen."

"Then we will refuse it." Akira suggested.

"It's not going to sooth their pride either way…" Hikaru said pointedly, "From my own personal experience, pride is the most difficult emotion to deal with… because you can't reason well when it's concerned most of the time."

The game with Ogata-pro when his pride was slighted told him that much.

"But still!" Akira hissed, "I can deal with them just fine!"

What did he just say? Here Akira's pride was talking.

"Akira… let's see that on Monday shall we?"

"Eh?"

* * *

**Monday (Kaio Middle School)**

"Hi… Hikaru…" Akira panted as all his muscles were screaming in pain. "Hikaru, I can't take it anymore."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "You're far from dying… just bend some more and you will get used to it." He murmured as he pushed on.

"No… no more!" He pleaded as a bead of sweat rolled down his flushing face.

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "Relax a little, if you act like I am killing you."

"It feels terrible…" He cried. "No more."

He sighed again, "Akira… please…"

The boys on their class stared at the scene with something akin to incredulity and exasperation, while the girls were busy taking picture, drooling and bleeding from their nostrils when their teacher was not looking.

"Girls, we know they're drool worthy…" Their male class rep said, "But this is the first time I see…"

"Hikaru! Stop! Stop! I think my organs are coming right out!" Akira wailed, normally he wouldn't caught dead embarrassing himself, but at that situation he didn't care. Hikaru was killing him!

"Whose organs are coming out because of hamstring stretch?!" Hikaru asked incredulously, "Your fingertips didn't reach your toes yet! I can't start counting from ten if you didn't!"

"Count now! Count now!"

"That's cheating Akira!"

"This is the first time I see you drool over something as uncool and lame as hamstring stretch." The class rep finished. They had heard the rumor that the two were Go genius even though they didn't join Go club and he expected them to be lousy at PE but while Touya met that expectation marvelously, Shindou was a pro at exercise. Touya couldn't even do stretch on his own properly so Shindou volunteered to help him, and thus resulted to this scene.

His female counterpart grinned sheepishly, "Just close your eyes and their voice is enough to conjure a marvelous image straight from yaoi manga."

"Aren't you thirteen?!"

"We can have our fantasy, can't we?" And she bled some more from her nostrils when Akira let out another pained moan.

"Shindou! Touya!" The male class rep decided to save his classmates from further sekuhara by imagination of their female classmates. "No need to continue that stretching! Stop before the girls run out of blood!"

* * *

Akira's torture didn't end as their teacher came back and ordered the boys to run twenty laps around the school building. Theur PE teacher, a foreigner by the name Armstrong seemed to favor Spartan training. Their previous PE teacher had been soft to them, but she was replaced by the foreigner because she had to return to her hometown suddenly.

Hikaru had run two laps ahead of him before slowing down to jog beside him. "You know Akira… I kind of expecting you're not good at this but not this abysmal."

"Shut up…" He panted out.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "You should have exercise regularly. My master said moving your body is good to clear your mind."

Akira raised an eyebrow at that, "Sai-san said that?"

"Uh huh."

_'True Touya-kun!' _Sai exclaimed as he ran beside the two boys, _'One two! One two! Make sure to control your breath as you run!' _

_'Come to think of it… Ani-ue is from Fujiwara Clan, they're politician but also warriors so it's no wonder he is good at exercise… he was taught the way of sword before Go even.' _

"No more…"

He didn't expect his friend's stamina is this bad. "Akira, how did you pass your PE in elementary school?" Hikaru wondered out loud.

"With scoring perfectly for the written test." He panted out.

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "At least we don't have to worry you will fail this subject…"

* * *

**Afterschool period **

"I am going to my club now." Hikaru announced to half dead Akira who still couldn't move after they changed back from their PE jersey to uniform. He was sitting on his chair, his head slumped against his table. "Are you sure, you're alright? I think you should call for someone to pick you up instead of walking to bus station."

Akira nodded numbly, "I think I will stay some more until I can move…"

_'Hikaru.' _Sai called his student, _'I think you can ask Chitanda-chan to give you a briefing and you can work on it at home, I don't think Akira-kun can go home on his own like this.' _

Hikaru sighed at that, and he agreed with his surrogate brother. "I will try to finish my work as soon as I can, I think I can finish in half an hour to get the briefing from Chitanda-senpai… and continue my work at home."

"But…"

"No buts." Hikaru retorted. "Just rest, go read book or something if you're bored… you can't go home on your own like this."

Akira frowned at that. "Fine…"

Hikaru began to walk away and before he closed the door of their classroom he glanced at Akira. "I will be back as soon as I can." And he closed the door, leaving Akira on the empty classroom on his own.

As soon as he was sure Hikaru was out of earshot, Akira sighed loudly. "Huh… lately he seems to think I can't take care of myself." He grumbled under his breath. "Even though he is worse than me at it! He takes care of everyone else but himself!" He huffed.

Akira's lips slowly curved up and all trace of annoyance evaporated from his face. _'But…before I meet Hikaru, I never feel like this. I don't think I ever imagined to feel annoyed to be mothered by a friend like him… he gets on my nerves all the time but I can't stay angry at him for long…' _

Day by day he discovered new and better moment with his friend. Ashiwara-san used to say that Akira chose to delay taking pro exam because he was bored because he had no equal, and Akira without knowing had lied to Ashiwara that he worked hard so one day he could be their rival.

Then a few days later Hikaru wandered to their salon. When he recalled it again, that day Hikaru didn't really seem like he wanted to be there. Or rather he had no clue why he was there in the first place, in Meijin's go salon. If anyone asked how they met, Akira would say that Hikaru came to the Go salon and played the most beautiful Go he had ever seen.

"Ah, Touya-kun."

He was snapped out of his thought by a familiar voice and when he looked up he was surprised to see Kochou-sensei and Yun-sensei was standing by the doorframe. The Go instructor had apologetic look on his face as they entered the classroom.

"Kochou-sensei, Yun-sensei." Akira stood up and gave them a curt bow, ignoring his muscle that screamed in protest. "Konichiwa." He greeted them politely, "How may I help you?"

The plump headmaster smiled at him. "I ran to your class rep and he said I can find you here, but I didn't see Shindou-kun. I thought the two of you are always together."

Akira sweat-dropped at that, it seemed in two weeks in the same school and class everyone was convinced they were joined at the hip. "Uhm… he has Classic club today." He had to admit they're rarely separated but for the headmaster of all people to think so too?

The headmaster looked pained as he remembered certain white haired teacher, "Too bad then, but well… I guess you can tell Shindou-kun later."

Akira blinked owlishly at that, "You need to talk with Shindou, Kochou-sensei?"

"With both of you." He corrected, "It's about…"

* * *

**One hour later… **

Akira and Hikaru were walking together the bus station and Akira while usually quiet, he was never this quiet around Hikaru. In fact for the last ten minutes walk, Akira listened to him talking with occasional short reply. Something was wrong, but Akira was fine when Hikaru left for his club.

"Akira, is something wrong?" Hikaru queried worriedly.

He looked startled for a moment before he replied. "I am fine, nothing is wrong."

"But you're too quiet…" Hikaru murmured.

He shook his head, "I am just still tired from today." It was true but not the main reason though. "Uhm… so are you getting busy with Classic club?"

Hikaru narrowed his eyes and Akira knew that was saying he didn't buy Akira's excuse. "Yes, because by next week the compilation should be sent for printing. So for a while it will be a little hectic in my club until we get use to work on monthly publication."

"I see…"

"I still have time for Go though." Hikaru assured him, "And I am not giving up my Go time at all for Hyouka publication."

Akira chuckled softly at that, "I am glad to hear that…" He took a deep breath. "It seems you have fun in Classic club even though it's partly a job for you."

Hikaru nodded, "Yes, I think most Go professional should be thankful because they get to live out of something they love…"

He smiled at that, "Yes, but if you love something I think we will play it even if we have to pay…" Then he added, "Otou-san said in a sense Pro players get to play in Outeai and other competition with paying the institute by doing boring obligation such as interview, tutoring and demonstration."

Hikaru laughed softly at that, "Touya-sensei said that? Unexpectedly he has a good sense of humor."

"What do you mean unexpected? My father have a perfectly health sense of humor, unlike you!"

"What's wrong with mine?"

"For one, it's unfunny and sometimes twisted." Akira said pointedly, inwardly he was congratulating himself for successfully distracting his friend with shouting match.c

"It's not!"

"Is too!

"It's not!

"Is too!"

Sai rolled his eyes, _'And just like that their wit devolved to this routine again.' _

* * *

**The next day, afterschool period…**

"I am going for my club, I will catch up with you later to Go salon." Hikaru said as he and Akira stood on front of their classroom door.

Akira nodded nervously, "Uhm, yes…"

Hikaru frowned at him. "Akira… you…"

**"**Look at the time." Akira pushed him by his shoulder, "If you're not hurry you will be late Hikaru!"

"What?" Hikaru sputtered, "But I…"

"You will be late!" Akira urged on.

* * *

In the end Hikaru didn't get to ask what disturb Akira because the Meijin's son keep pestering him to go already and quickly fled the moment Hikaru turned his back on Akira. He had a hectic week because Hyouka was to be published soon and the club was still on the state of getting a hang on publishing monthly. He spent most of his time with Akira in class and their Go session, but he didn't have time to inquire why Akira was acting strange for last few days. Especially because Akira was getting better at dodging question, and Hikaru was sure that stupid skill of his was rubbing off on Akira.

Then again Akira was never and expert in hiding secret but he didn't expect it to come for second source or it was a week later he found out.

"WHAT?!"

As one all Classic club members took ten backward steps from Shindou Hikaru. They knew it was always the quiet one that was dangerous. There was one time when Shindou accidentally slammed their teacher to the ground for pulling his arm, but Fubuki-sensei was totally deserved it for acting out of curiosity to inspect the hand of experienced Go player. He didn't mean to do anything bad, but they agreed it was creepy. Shindou apologized and warned them about his quirk for throwing people on reflex if they dared to drag him by his hand and how he was an aikido practitioner.

They had no idea Shindou had that tendency as more than once they saw impatient Touya Akira dragged him around after the club hour ended to play Go. Apparently that rule didn't apply when your name was Touya Akira.

Yep, the same person was the core of this problem. Then again almost all Shindou's problem one way or another was related to his best friend. But this was the first time they saw their Kouhai acted like an enraged dragon when their teacher informed him about the other Go prodigy.

Fubuki-sensei adjusted his glasses. "Well… our Go club is the best in the region and we have you two, the upcoming Go prodigies, aspiring to be pro players…" He listed on. "Kochou-sensei think it's a waste that none of you joined the club, and how it's perfectly reasonable you two to be Yun-sensei's assistants… he is but one man, managing fifty students at once. So…"

Hikaru composed himself and apologized for yelling before he continued. "But majority of Go club members dislike us at the first sight!"

Fukube-senpai cringed. "Well… you got that one right." He was like the information broker of their school and called himself database. Hikaru had never seen someone as good as his senpai at gathering information.

"So…" Hikaru took a deep breath, "Why did Akira accept that invitation and I was being left out? Akira has no obligation to accept it while I am the scho…"

Oreki-senpai grimaced, he had deduced the same thing when he heard the problem from Fukube and their advisor. "Crap, he figured it out by himself." He said out loud to himself and his clubmates.

"That idiot!" Hikaru hollered.

No one dared to stop him from leaving the club room, not even Fubuki-sensei. There were reason why their club only had a handful of people, simply because Fubuki handpicked the most observant student with good head on their shoulder. So it didn't take long for them to know their newest member had fierce protective streak when it comes to Touya Akira.

So if they were worried about something, it was the survival of Go club members if they dared to harm even a strand of Touya Akira's hair.

* * *

**Before anyone asked, the stretching scene is indeed inspired from Kuroshitsuji's infamous corset scene.**

**I read too many Yaoi doujinshi of Akihika lately LOL although no worries, I will keep it at teasing level ^^**

**And as warned before, school start means slower update... it's inevitable but I will keep trying to update something at least once a week.  
BTW I can't help but wonder why people seems to like Honinbou's disciple better... and I get over the drama about making it gender bend. I will forget it... AT any rate for some reason I manage to sketch this fic AND Honinbou's disciple to the end, I already have an inkling how it end. LOL amazing~ when I have no clue how to end my Unsealing Legacy or Eclipse of Kuroko Tetsuya... That's a good news for you as it seems I will get these two fic done to complete anyway... **


	9. Chapter 9

**Please note this chapter begin at the start of the week, which mean it's Akira's POV of his inclusion to Go club as Yun-sensei's assistant.**

**Chapter 9: Existence **

The idea sounded wonderful, becoming Yun-sensei's assistant to Go club as some sort of pro training as well. The ideal idea was for he and Hikaru to assist Yun-sensei to teach the club members, and it also served to give them experience in tutoring. Unfortunately reality was not as sweet, because neither he nor Hikaru needed the experience. Both of them played shidougo almost all the time in Shindou's study group and his father's Go salon. They had people from all age group to tutor, and addition of one gigantic club was just an unnecessary burden.

Not to mention majority of Go club was wary of him and Hikaru because of their prodigy status.

But…

"It's a wonderful opportunity for us all." Kochou-sensei continued, "Of course we should keep Shindou-kun's schedule with Classic club in mind, but I am sure we can negotiate with Fubuki-sensei to give Shindou-kun spare time for Go club."

He would be fine refusing this offer, because Kochou-sensei respected his father and he had no obligation to the school. Hikaru in the other hand would be in unfavorable situation if he refused, he was a scholarship student and he almost lost the scholarship because of the stunt he pulled last winter. If Kochou-sensei asked, Akira was sure his friend would be obligated to accept it. Hikaru was already so busy with the Classic club, and he tried his hardest to make time for Akira and Go. There was no way he would let his friend to be subjected to another obligation, and an unpleasant one to boot!

"Kochou-sensei." Akira began, "My apologies, but would it be possible if you don't mention this to Shindou?" It felt a little odd shifting back to calling his friend by his surname. "Lately he is very busy… I don't want him to get too tired, in the other hand I am pretty free afterschool so I can make time for Go club." He offered politely, a benign smile firmly in place.

The headmaster looked skeptical, "But… he should be free once after their next publication, right?"

"Actually… Shindou also take aikido lesson, he also has a Go class at home." Akira listed on.

Yun-sensei rubbed his chin, "He has his own Go class at home?"

"It's nothing formal, it's more like an unofficial study group and he is not paid for it…" Akira corrected. "He also tutored four children for free…" Not really free as their parents kept bringing gift like groceries for Shindou because the young teacher refused to be paid. "Sometimes he also played shidougo with patrons at my father's Go salon…"

Yun-sensei looked impressed, "No wonder he has good teaching method."

Akira nodded, "It's not an exaggeration to say Shidougo is Shindou's specialty, I don't think he need more experience at it… I even learn how to play shidougo from him." Then he turned to Kochou-sensei. "In the other hand I need as much as experience as I could… so I hope Kochou-sensei didn't mind it's only me."

Kochou-sensei looked flustered, "Of course not! I should thank you Touya-kun! I guess Shindou-kun didn't have to come along if he is that busy." He murmured, "We're looking forward for your guidance in our Go club."

Akira was relieved that he managed to get his friend out of it. As for him… well, he had told Hikaru he could take care of himself just fine! Beside… weren't they hostile because they were worried he and Hikaru were going to take their top placers' place? If he became Yun-sensei's assistant they didn't have to fear that. He didn't expect them to be more welcome to his presence but at least not as bad as if he barged in to their club as a member.

* * *

**Few days later, Go clubroom **

Hikaru was getting suspicious of why Akira stayed so long afterschool to the point they could go home together as usual in spite of Hikaru's hectic schedule in Classic Club. However his long haired friend was someone who had deep respect for privacy so he didn't pry. However it didn't stop Hikaru from shooting him worried look from time to time. It made Akira happy but he was also a little annoyed his friend didn't trust him to take care of himself.

Sure, his time in Go club was not exactly peachy. They didn't glare at him openly but the hostility and awkwardness were still there but more subdued. And also a minority of the club, ironically the top placers in both boy and girl team were pretty supportive with the idea of him tutoring them. Aoki-senpai in particular was very friendly to him, the plump senior reminded him a little of Ashiwara-san. Aoki-senpai was more mature and composed compared to Ashiwara-san though.

"Thank you very much, Touya-sensei." Aoki-senpai said after the post-game discussion ended.

He still felt a little awkward to be called that though. In his father's Go salon he had been called sensei for so long but to be called that by people close to his age was unnerving. However he couldn't refuse as it was proper to be treated with respect by people they taught, if not the lesson won't sink in.

Although…

'Look at that, senpais called him _sensei'_

'Show off.'

'Che, just because he tutor us for free…'

It didn't help at all with the hostility. Oh well, he had learned it was impossible to please all sides when a Go game was concerned.

"Will you play me next?" An orange haired boy asked.

Akira briefly recalled this boy was also a freshman as he was from class B they shared lab with. Akira remembered because this boy made a ruckus because he mixed wrong chemicals and the whole lab was full of pink smoke that thankfully was harmless. His name was Oku… something?

"Sure." He accepted, "How many stones you wanted?"

The orange haired boy grinned, "I am fine without handicap but may I have black?"

Akira blinked owlishly at the request, but knew better to question it. "Sure."

The game began with the first hand Tengen of all things. At first his interest was piqued a little by the unconventional first hand but soon his interest dampened to nonexistent as all his opponent did was mirroring his hand. Did this person seriously think that way he could deflect his own power on him? Go didn't work that way unfortunately.

"If that's the way you want to play it…" He murmured with an amused smile then he placed a stone right below the Tengen.

_'Tsuke on Tengen?!'_

He knew this boy was not a good player, as his strategy was so naïve. Anyone who reached decent level would have known this kind of strategy won't work. The boy persistently continued mirroring him, which just made him even dumber.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Ten hands later he captured a handful of stone including the Tengen with surrounding the center area. Of course at this point the boy smarted up enough to give up.

"Makemashita." The boy declared, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

* * *

**Locker Shoes **

"Why not? Isn't he said to be the future Meijin?" Itou murmured in saccharine tone.

Okumura groaned, "Are you saying I should ask for an autograph now? Or perhaps I have to ask that other friend of his too?"

Kojima laughed, "You mean Shindou Hikaru? Nah… I think we should ask for a game, and later if they manage to be title holders we can say something like…I played with the Meijin once."

Itou rolled his eyes, "So you will brag you played them once?"

"What a low aim, senpai!" Okumura exclaimed but stopped when he saw his senpai for some reason froze in front of the entrance. "Senpai?" He poked his head to the side so he could see who they were staring at and quickly regretted it.

A few feet away from them Shindou Hikaru stood, leaning against the pillar and he was eyeing them with unreadable eyes. As one all of them took a few steps back, wary of the long haired boy. It was understandable though, with Touya they only had to fear him on goban but this one…

Rumors had circulated that Shindou Hikaru sometimes joined Aikido club morning practice, he was not part of their club and the advisor was more than happy to let the boy to borrow their dojo for warm up. The Aikido club had odd number so his presence evened the number for sparring partner. According to their coach Shindou could have gotten 1-dan at least.

One time there was a classmate who wanted to prank Touya, putting an eraser on the top of the door, hoping when Touya opened the door the chalk eraser would dirtied his dark silky hair. It was a pretty harmless prank in, but Shindou caught the eraser before it reached Touya and snapped the wooden eraser in two barehanded. Then with an innocent smile on his face apologized for breaking school property and politely told them it was for erasing chalk and not supposed to be up there in the first place.

In short, he was not someone you wanted to mess with and you shouldn't mess with his best friend either.

"That's a pretty interesting conversation." Shindou Hikaru commented with benign smile that didn't reach his eyes and Okumura was eerily reminded of Touya's smile when the Go prodigy told him it was his turn, when the game was clearly a foregone conclusion.

Crap.

"Hikaru!" A cheerful voice that for some reason sounded like Touya called.

However the owner of that voice was indeed Touya Akira, and the Go prodigy was walking pass them without so much of a glance as if the trio didn't exist and made a beeline towards his best friend.

"Akira." Hikaru greeted his friend.

Touya Akira opened his umbrella and said, "You should have checked your umbrella before you bring it with you. I can't believe you bring an umbrella that already had a tear on it."

Shindou Hikaru shrugged, "I was in hurry this morning, let's go already…"

"Whatever you say, Hikaru…" He said as he grabbed Shindou's hand and dragged the long haired boy under his umbrella.

The trio's eyebrows twitched at the sight, _Did Touya just blatantly ignoring our existence? _

The two Go prodigies started to walk away, sharing Touya's blue umbrella. Touya was talking about something while Shindou listened. However they didn't expect Shindou sparing a glance at them, his eyes looked murderous when it narrowed at them.

"That is one dangerous guy." Kojima murmured in shock. "At least Touya is just a dangerous Go player, but Shindou…"

Okumura nodded frantically, "He is scary!" Itou scowled, "That's not the part you should get scared of! That Touya! He didn't even greet us when he walked pass! We are his seniors!"

"I don't think he even notice we're exist~" Kojima droned, "To Touya, everyone but Shindou is beneath him."

Okumura sighed exasperatedly, "And the suckiest part is he is right about that." There was no contest.

They were snapped out of their conversation by the sound of car, and cheerful feminine voice. "Akira-kun! Hikaru-kun!"

Then they saw a pretty young woman driving a small yellow car and on the passenger seat was an equally cute red haired girl, dressing in Haze sailor uniform. "Hi, Hikaru! Touya-kun."

"Ah, Ichikawa-san, what's going on?" Touya queried. "Fujisaki-san too."

"We come to pick you up!" The older girl informed them cheerfully. "You two promised us a shidougo today, ne?"

"Ne?" The younger girl echoed cutely.

Shindou Hikaru leaned in so he was face to face with the red haired girl. "Yes, but really… our manly pride is a little hurt, the fair ladies are the one who pick us up when it should be the other way around." He said suavely.

"Hikaru!" Touya chastised his friend, while the girls were blushing as red as tomato.

"Unfortunately we don't have license yet." He added as an afterthought. "Touya, I am just joking."

Touya sighed, "This is why I told you that your sense of humor is bad."

"Fair lady…" The red haired girl repeated dreamily.

Ichikawa-san sweat-dropped. "Hikaru-kun is as smooth as ever." She opened the backseat door for them. "Get inside boys, before you get wet." She instructed, "Why did you guys share an umbrella anyway?"

Akira went inside first as Hikaru held the umbrella for him, "Hikaru's umbrella has a tear on it, and he didn't notice until he opened it."

"My!"

"I was in hurry this morning so I didn't check." Hikaru added in his defense as he went inside the car and closed the umbrella in the same time.

Ichikawa-san laughed at that, "Well, at any rate we're looking forward for the lesson, sensei!"

"Hai." Touya and Shindou answered in amused voice.

"Ne Hikaru! I bake cookies and scones for you, almond ones… your favorite." She chimed in.

Ichikawa winked, "And Akira-kun, I will serve cake and coffee for you~ although there's not as much as love as it's store bought! Unlike Akari-chan's cookies and scones for Hikaru-kun!"

"Ichikawa-san!" Fujisaki Akari blushed a deep red.

The car sped up and left the premise of Kaio Middle School. The trio gaped openly at the retreating yellow car.

"Homemade cookies and scones? Your Favorite?" Okumura echoed with twitching eyebrow, "Serve cake and coffee… serve?" Then he blew up, "I can't stand it! Those two!"

Kojima sighed, "Well… you should see how many girls pining for them, but it's no wonder… they have looks, grades and… personality." He listed on, although he was not sure about the last part. "At least girls think they're dreamy, and they're best friends are a bonus…"

Itou sweat-dropped, "Well… they're indeed annoying, and that Shindou in a sense is ten times even more annoying than Touya."

"If you want to have a go with Shindou, count me out." Kojima declared, "At least with Touya I am sure no bodily harm is involved."

Itou smartly didn't enlighten his friend about how if they try anything on Touya, there was no way Shindou would stay quiet and bodily harm would be involved.

* * *

**Touya Meijin's Go salon **

"There." Ichikawa placed her stone.

Akira smiled and responded.

Ichikawa averted her eyes for a moment from the board and Akira to Hikaru and Akari. She sighed inwardly, why the boys chose to play shidougo this close with each other? Apparently even though Hikaru-kun was a perfect gentleman and good at dealing with girls, it didn't mean he wasn't as dense as any boys his age. Or perhaps… he knew Akari-chan's feeling but didn't want to lead the girl on so he avoided being alone with her on purpose? But…

Akari-chan looked so happy even though Ichikawa and Akira-kun were nearby, it seemed she didn't care too much as long as Hikaru-kun was spending time with her. Then again…

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

These two boys were Go idiots, and Ichikawa didn't need to know their schedule to know they spent most of their time together. In a sense…

"Ichikawa-san? It's your turn." Akira-kun reminded her.

"Ah! Here." She placed her stone, and then looked up at the dark haired boy in front of her. In a sense, Akari-chan's greatest rival was Akira-kun… she sweat-dropped at the thought.

"Oh." She said in wondering tone. "So if I go here, I can open one more path for black."

Hikaru-kun nodded, "Yes, and it will force white to respond like this."

"Uhm… then I have to respond with nobi here?" She asked as she placed her stone.

He shook his head, "Actually…. You should use hane here." Hikaru corrected, "When you play shidougo without komi it would be fine, but it's disadvantageous for black to use nobi there."

She blinked at that, "But Hikaru used it on Tsutsui-san before?" She had joined Tsutsui's budding club and asked her friends to join in, it seemed Tsutsui's meek persona was charming for girls. He still had trouble looking for male members though.

"That's because my play style is mixing old and new joseki… in my personal opinion old joseki has more balance, while newer one is more aggressive in gaining territory…" Hikaru explained, "However you need more experience for it to work against modern joseki when playing with present set of rules."

Akari-chan nodded at that, "I see… hum… it's really hard to get the logic of joseki, so far no girls in our club can beat Tsutsui-san yet… and majority of pro are males." She murmured. "Is boys in general better than girls in Go?"

Akira-kun smiled at that, "There is that kind of preconception, but I personally disagree… gender have nothing to do with skill." Although Go in professional world, intimidation factor was involved, so people thought girls were easier to be intimidated.

Then Akari-chan looked at Hikaru-kun expectantly, the boy didn't seem to notice as he looked thoughtful. "Actually since the origin of Go theorized to be for practicing an art of war in ancient China, it's a given majority of players since ancient time are male… but… do you know Murasaki Shikibu and Seishou Naban?"

Akari-chan nodded, "They are famous female figures from Heian era."

"They played go too, and according to history record they were exceptional players… " Hikaru drawled softly, "In fact there are historians who believe that Oda Nobunaga fell in love with Lady Nou because of her skill in Go… aside from literature and music skill… Go is a mark of ideal ladies of nobility."

Ichikawa should feel happy to hear that but with Shindou-kun you couldn't tell he was just enlightening you with his history trivia, or he was encouraging Akari-chan to get better.

Time passed quickly and it was time for these kids to go home, Akira-kun was the first to go home because his mother asked him to go home soon. After a few round of Shidougo, Hikaru-kun encouraged Akari-chan to play with Hirose-san so she could get a taste of a real game. Hikaru-kun was gentleman so he waited for Akari-chan to finish so he can walk her home.

"Ichikawa-san." Hikaru-kun called her, "May I borrow the phone to call Akari-san's home, it's not late yet but I think I should inform them she would be coming how a bit later than her curfew."

Ichikawa never thought the presence of another surrogate little brother could make her this happy. "My! Of course, Hikaru-kun!" She said as she gave him the cordless phone.

He made a quick call to Akari-chan's house and politely informed her mother. They talked a little longer as it seemed Akari-chan's mother missed Hikaru-kun. "Uhm… my apologies, baa-san but my grandfather expect me to be home at seven so you don't have to prepare my share of dinner."

It seemed Akari-chan had her parent's approval for Shindou-kun.

"Thank you, Ichikawa-san." Hikaru-kun returned the phone.

"You're welcome, Hikaru-kun!" Mou, why he and Akira-kun this polite?

Hikaru-kun cleared his throat, "Ichikawa-san… I would like to ask whether Akira is spending more time in Go salon lately."

Ichikawa blinked owlishly at that, "Hum… no, not really… "

Hikaru-kun had this solemn look on his face at that, "I see… did Akira tell you anything? He seems to be waiting for me a lot lately, usually if I am late from club he would wait for me here instead of school."

"Is that so?" She drawled, "But why you're worried Hikaru-kun? He used to stay extra hours at school to finish his homework so he has more time to play Go." Of course Hikaru-kun knew this too, so why he was worried?

Hikaru-kun looked uneasy, "Please keep this a secret from Akira, he think I didn't notice but… he is doing something and he don't want me to know what. I am worried he is going to get in trouble…"

That was so vague… "Uhm… I don't think you should worry, Akira-kun is not a troublemaker and he definitely is not the type who looks for trouble!" Ichikawa assured the young boy.

Hikaru-kun didn't look convinced and Ichikawa somehow had a feeling the look he shot her said, _'Exactly, problem found him.' _

* * *

**Shindou's residence **

Hikaru placed the white stone to where his mentor's fan pointed it.

Pachi

Pachi

Sai frowned and took the fan he had placed on tatami mat and put it on his lap. "Let's wrap it up, we will continue this game tomorrow." He decided.

Hikaru blinked, "But… we're almost reaching yose."

"There's no point, you're not concentrating." Sai said pointedly, "I don't think you're up to any game as long as you haven't solved your problem with Akira-kun."

Hikaru sighed at that, "Yes, ani-ue…"

"Hikaru…" Sai began, "Akira-kun was a lonely child… although I suspect before he met you he didn't know it."

"… Maybe that's true…" Perhaps that was why Akira was chasing him so persistently back then. "No, I know it's true."

"That's why… whatever he get himself into is…"

Hikaru sighed, "He is so clueless… and so single minded in his pursuit I can't help but be worried." He murmured, "Hirose-san… said Akira bolt out of the salon just because I _might _be in that Go tournament, I mean… who would bet on that small chance… and he brood in that same spot, waiting for me for weeks…"

Sai sweat-dropped, "Well… he is a smart boy but when you're concerned he seems to do a lot of thing on impulse."

"It's stupid."

"But adorable…" Sai added, grinning at his disciple.

Hikaru sighed again, "But still… even though I know Akira will wait, I can't help but scared if I will fail him anyway… "He murmured. "I am glad to be his friend but I… I also want to be his rival, I want to play with my everything against him… I want… I want to give him the rival he sees in me but I can't… and I…"

"Hikaru." Sai stopped his rant, "May I ask you a question?" Hikaru gave him a curt nod, "Why you play go?" Hikaru opened his mouth, "I know your Go at first is for pleasing Heihachi-dono, and then it's for me… but Hikaru regardless of everything I believe the main reason is because you love this game as much as I do."

"Yes… I do…"

"However…" Sai trailed off, "I believe Go is not a game you can play on your own, there has to be someone else too… I believe that each person in this world exist for someone else."

"Each person exists…" Hikaru recited in dazed tone. "For someone else."

Sai nodded, "Rival you want to be for Touya… rivals in my opinion is two persons existing for each other to reach a new height." He murmured. "And that way… I don't think Hikaru need to fear anything else, you're never alone… your go is not to crush your opponent's spirit."

"…Ani-ue…"

He took a deep breath, "I have wanted to tell you this for a long time…"

"Then why you didn't?" Hikaru asked hesitantly.

He laughed softly as he patted his brother gently on his shoulder, "Because… this is the first time you admit to me that there is something you want for yourself, you want to be Akira-kun's rival."

"But that's…"

"I know partly you want it for Akira-kun." Sai drawled softly, "But in the same time, you want to be his rival for yourself…"

Hikaru's eyes widened at that, "I want it for myself…"

Sai nodded, "Maybe now you don't really grasp it yet, but I believe… Hikaru, it's just about time. Be patient… you have been waiting for so long. I am sure… that someday is not long…"

The day you could break free from your past, and ran towards the future without fear.

* * *

**The next day **

Hikaru was watching him closely, which was nothing new since the last few days. His friend was suspecting something and Akira feared he couldn't keep his teaching job in Go club any longer. They chatted and had lunch as usual, nothing off and Hikaru didn't ask anything. However Akira still had this nagging feeling it was just about time his friend found out about the teaching job, and they would start a shouting match over it.

He just hoped Hikaru could follow his own advice on picking location before they started that.

So that day he had stayed in class longer than usual to make sure Hikaru was not going to wait and caught him going to Go clubroom. After over fifteen minutes he rushed to the clubroom and gave a polite apology to Kishimoto.

It seemed today Yun-sensei had an appointment so it was up to Kishimoto-senpai and Tsuruga-senpai in charge of the club today. Then he went to his corner, or rather the unoccupied goban where he spent most of his time when no one came for shidougo. He recalled Hidaka-senpai asked for one today, but she was not here yet.

"Hey, Touya." Akira looked up from his book when he heard his name was called.

It was a senior he didn't know, he had red hair and dark eyes. "Yes?"

"Come with me." He craned his neck, "Yun-sensei needs us to do some errand."

That was odd, technically since he was an assistant it didn't make sense for Yun-sensei to not tell the club president to tell him about an errand. However he had no reason to refuse especially since this person seemed to have a bad temper. It would be bad if he start yelling about Akira being defiant to a senpai or something.

So he followed them to the old record room and told to clean it up. So this person was bullying him? Then again he was the kouhai and he didn't want to argue with this person. Beside Kishimoto-senpai would notice his absence, and found out about this anyway.

However he didn't expect them to ask for a game, and a blind Go game to boot.

"What, can't you do it?" Itou challenged. "Sure you can, after all you're the best player in our generation…"

"…"

He grunted, "Why a guy like you have to come here? Teaching?! More like flaunting your skill on us! Do you want to show off? That you're the best of the best?" He went on, "Why don't you just go pro already and take four or five titles?"

This person… what did he want from provoking him like this? Akira saw no point to dignify him with a response, a reaction was what he wanted and Akira had no inclination to give him that pleasure.

Itou fumed, wondering why this boy didn't even flinch when provoked. He smirked, he knew exactly what he should say to get a reaction. "Or… you'd rather I try to get your friend, Shindou Hikaru instead?" Itou tried again.

"What?!"

Itou smirked, that was the most emotional face he had ever seen of the stoic Touya Akira. "Isn't he also a prodigy? He can beat Kishimoto-senpai so easily after all… although… it seems he has a health problem." He couldn't help but enjoyed visible tremor on Touya Akira's body. "My father is a doctor, you know… and I watched that tournament… I can easily tell a panic attack when I saw it… at first I thought it was asthma because of that inhaler you gave him."

Akira swallowed, "You…"

"But he is good at PE ne? I don't see him having breathing problem at all… so it's easy to know it's a panic attack, and a bad one…" He murmured, "I wonder… what trigger it?"

Akira couldn't take it anymore, "Fine! I will play you! Just… don't you dare to harm him!"

"Hmph." Itou smirked, "I know you're going to see my way, Touya…"

He bristled as he turned around, organizing the scattered book as ordered. He had never felt this angry, this person dared to use his friend to attack him! No, calm down! No matter what he had to win this game. Don't let his provocation get to your head and clouding your judgment.

"16-4, Hoshi." Itou announced, followed by soft sound of stone hitting the goban.

Akira pictured a goban on his head and filled the called spot with a black stone. "4-16, Hoshi."

"16-17, Komoku."

Pachi

"4-4, Hoshi."

Pachi

Akira took a deep breath, blind Go was difficult even for pro but the key was memorizing the shape and using logical calculation for each hand to keep track of it.

"It would be interesting if I beat you like this, after all it's an even game." Itou said in amused voice. "So please be careful so it won't end too quickly.

Akira frowned at that, "So that's it? You can show off all you want once you win, senpai." He returned smoothly. In the first place he didn't think he would lose at all, after all…

And the game continued.

* * *

**Go clubroom**

Kishimoto was startled when the door of their clubroom was opened and revealed a familiar long haired boy, or to be precise he was startled by the murderous look Shindou Hikaru wore on his face. "My apologies for interrupting, but I want to know where I can find Akira?"

Kishimoto swallowed, it seemed Shindou found out about Touya after all. "Uhm…" His respond must be the smartest he ever could come with. He honestly had no idea where Touya was, and he had a feeling if he answered wrong blood would spill.

Shindou's patience seemed to be thinning rapidly. "Where is Akira?" He gritted out.

Honoe-san, the second board of girl team stood up abruptly. "Uhm… Hidaka went to look for them." She answered nervously, "Touya-kun… I don't know where he is but… three of our members are missing too so perhaps…"

"Who are they?" At this point Kishimoto realized Shindou Hikaru had foregone all politeness, he was furious.

"Itou, Kojima and Okumura." Kishimoto answered promptly.

Shindou took a deep breath and Kishimoto desperately hoped that was a sign Shindou was regaining his composure. "Two seniors, a red head and a brunette and an orange haired freshman?"

How did he know?!

"Hai!" Honoe-san squeaked.

Shindou's eyes narrowed and if eyes alone could kill, they would have melted on the spot by his glare alone. "And where I can find those three?"

"We don't know." Kishimoto said pleading tone. "Hidaka went to look but she hasn't returned either."

"Then excuse me." He said in clipped tone and closed the door. That must be the rudest exit Shindou Hikaru had ever made.

* * *

**Hallway **

Hikaru didn't like wasting his time in a goose chase, Kaio was big and he was not going to find Akira the normal way.

_'Hikaru! Hikaru calm down!' _

_'I can't!' _Hikari hissed, _'I can't calm down until I find Akira safe and sound!' _

"Fukube-senpai." He called the senior by phone.

**_"Shindou-kun? Uhm… I hope you haven't killed anyone yet…" _**

Hikaru growled, "Hopefully not, but… give me a list of location Go club members are familiar with… a place only they can enter! A place rarely used and not a lot of people coming around, like a storage room? Do you know if there is any kind of place like that?!"

Fukube paused, deep in thought. **_"Uhm… you will not have a list because there's only one place like that~ Yep, it's a storage room. It's a little far from Go club room, on West wing same floor…" _**What a coincidence, he was walking to that direction already. "**_It's a tiny room near the emergency exit… there is a locker in front of it so you will not miss it." _**

"Thank you Fukube-senpai, I owe you."

**_"Just don't kill anyone, please." _**

He smiled at that and said, "I will try my best."

It didn't take long for him to reach that secluded room however he didn't expect to hear a loud feminine voice shouting and the door was open. _'Hidaka-senpai?' _He was relieved, as Hidaka-senpai won't let Akira bullied even if she didn't like them. However it was still a girl and Akira against three boys, so he quickly reached the open door but stopped when he heard Akira's voice.

"I am the one who agreed to this game, let me continue." Akira said firmly, his voice was determined and leaving no room for discussion.

What game he got himself into?

"Shut up!" Hidaka snapped, "They're bullying you, and I will not let them to continue!" She said sternly with a tone of finality.

Akira was stubborn so he pressed on, "But this is something I have to do!"

"What kind of reason is that? Why you have to do this?" Hidaka queried before he glared at Itou. "Oi! How did you get Touya to agree to this ridiculous game?!" Itou didn't answer so Hidaka moved her attention to Okumura.

Intimidated by the stern senior Okumura blurted out. "I… Itou-senpai threatened to hurt Shindou! He… has panic attack last time and… that is like a sickness uhm…" He babbled on, "So it can come back if what trigger it happen…"

Hidaka growled, "You're mad Itou! How dare you! I can't believe you threaten Touya like that!" She snapped and turned her attention to Touya, " You too! Why did you try to solve this problem by yourself! You could have called for help! In the end… " She trailed off, "If only **you** weren't here, they won't do something like this in the first place!"

Akira froze on his track, _'But I just want… I just want to protect my friend but…' _

"If only you're not here…" She repeated.

"That's enough." Cold voice stopped her from saying more.

All occupants in the room turned as one to the door to see Shindou Hikaru by the door frame. His green eyes looked paler as he glared at them with eyes as cold as ice.

"Hikaru?" Touya called his friend, "Why are you…" He stammered in shock.

Shindou didn't say a word in respond before his hand shot out and grabbed Touya's hand. Touya didn't even have time to comprehend the gesture when suddenly he was pulled behind Shindou.

Hidaka knew she was a little overboard just now, but Touya was getting on her nerves with encouraging these three to bully him. Shindou was a smart guy, but it seemed now he was furious enough that Hidaka didn't dare to reason with him. "So…" He began, "Correct me if I am wrong… but it seems you're planning to beat Akira with forcing him to play blind Go?" He murmured, eyeing the goban and the lack of chair on the other side of two Okumura and Kojima occupied. "Am I wrong?" He asked again.

Itou swallowed, Kojima averted his eyes but Okumura who received the full dose of Shindou Hikaru's glare caved in. "Hai!"

Hikaru was really trying his best to control his temper, but he could feel he was failing at it. "It seems our presences cause nothing but trouble to you…" He stated coldly even though he wanted to sound neutral. "If that's the case why don't you bring it up to Yun-sensei because I really doubt Akira is in Go club out of his own free will in the first place."

"That's…"

"Hidaka-senpai," He cut her off, "I am really disappointed in you, I thought you're pretty reasonable person even though you don't like us… " Hikaru hissed, meaning every word in his sentence. He couldn't believe she cornered Akira when he was bullied. "So here is my offer, I will continue those games… blind and all in exchange you go and openly complain about Akira's presence in your club to Yun-sensei, to Headmaster if needed so he doesn't have to attend your club anymore."

"Hikaru!" Akira was appalled by the prospect. "Stop it!"

Hikaru didn't care, "They also have problem with me so I think it's a given for me to finish what you started." He said pointedly. "So let's get this over with!"

"NO!" Akira blocked him stubbornly, gripping his hand st tightly. "You're not going to play them! I am!"

"But you…" Hikaru began but he was stopped when he saw the look Akira shot him. That was the same look Akira had when he demanded their second game, unyielding determination that made his caved in.

_'Hikaru…' _His brother's ghostly voice whispered to him. _'I know you want to protect him but in the same time… he also want to protect you.' _

_'But I…' _

_'Set aside your own desire, Akira-kun is a strong boy and he desired your acknowledgement more than anything…'_

Hikaru gritted his teeth. _'But I do!'_

_'He is your friend, not just your rival… what he wants is not just an acknowledgement as a Go player but also as a person and a friend who could stand up for you.' _Sai corrected in solemn voice, _'Do you want to take this chance away from him?'_

Hikaru took a deep breath, and said. "Very well…_" _

"Wait! Shindou!" Hidaka protested.

"Would you rather I hunt them down and use physical force?" He queried coldly and as one the four Go club members stiffened. "No? Then let's solve this now." He said as he walked closer to the goban, eyeing both of it with narrowed eyes. "But still…"

Hidaka groaned, "Fine! Don't beat anyone up Shindou! God know you can get away with it, you Fubuki-sensei's golden boy!"

Hikaru snorted, apparently his dyed hair made people think Fubuki-sensei could get him out of any trouble. "Is that so?"

"However!" Hidaka added, "I want this game stop to be a blind game! It's disgraceful! All of us here are Kaio students! We play with respect and honor!" She reminded them with solemn tone. "Continue the game all you want but Touya have to sit and see the board! A fair match!"

Akira wanted to protest but he knew better than to irk Hidaka-senpai more than his friend already did. So he gave the female senior a curt nod and said. "I am sorry for all the trouble." Then he turned to Hikaru and said. "Watch me, it should be over in five minutes."

Hikaru chuckled softly, "Hh… that's if they didn't waste time thinking of escape route."

As for the three bullies they knew there was no escape the moment Akira sat in front of them and said. "Let's finish this."

Pachi!

As Akira expected, it only took roughly five minutes for both Okumura and Kojima to resign. However Akira didn't expect when he turned around to see his friend, Hikaru had this determined look on his face. "Hikaru?"

"Akira, let's play a game…" He said loud and clear. "I want to play you."

It took almost a full minute for Akira to process the challenge, because Hikaru never ever issued a challenge. He _made_ people challenged him, Akira, Ogata-san even the Meijin.

Akira always wanted this but when it really happened his answer was stuck on his throat.

Apparently Hikaru took Akira's silence as an acceptable approval, and began to clear the board Akira and Okumura used.

"Wait a minute!" Hidaka protested, "You're going to play here?! In this storeroom?"

Hikaru raised an eyebrow at Hidaka, "What's wrong with playing here? We already did."

"No! I mean… you guys want to play here?! You must be kidding me! You should play in our club room!"

"Why? I don't really care where, I just want to play." Hikaru said pointedly as he dropped black stones back to its goke.

Hidaka blew up, "WHY?! We're already dying to watch your game with Touya but you guys never ever did! And when you ask Touya for a game you want to do it in this tiny storeroom where we can't watch it?!"

"What?" Akira and Hikaru chorused in confusion.

"Of course you don't care! After all this trouble! At least you owe us a game! Play it in our club room!" She demanded.

Hikaru wanted to remind her that the problem was the club's fault in the first place, so by right they couldn't demanded to do anything for the Go club. However when Hidaka-senpai almost grab Hikaru's wrist but Akira was faster to grab him by hand. "We will go to the club room! We will play there!" He assured her, he was so afraid she would grab Hikaru carelessly.

Hikaru never threw a girl before but Akira didn't want to find out whether he made exception for girls or not.

* * *

**Go Clubroom **

Akira didn't know why he found the general expression of club members when they entered the room was hilarious with morbid fascination. It seemed Hikaru dropped in here first before he found Akira in that storage room, and scared the hell out of the whole club. Kishimoto-senpai looked very close to shaking when he asked where the three bullies were, and he looked very tempted to know about their fate but too scared to ask.

Hidaka-senpai was kind enough to assure him that Itou, Kojima and Okumura were very much alive, only their pride was ruined beyond repair. Then she asked to prepare a board for them to play, but fortunately she was considerate enough to request a secluded place and limited the audience to top members of the club with a promise they could keep the kifu of the game.

Neither he nor Hikaru minded that in exchange of not hoarded by too many people around when they played.

Suddenly after they sat across each other, separated only by a goban in between, Akira rapidly lose his nerve. It was not the game, not the win or lose, but… Hikaru…

They nigiri-ed, Hikaru won black and he got white.

"Akira." His friend called him. "Your guidance please."

That was just a standard game courtesy but Akira found himself relieved, that Hikaru was assuring him this was a Go game they loved not a life and death match. He was going to be okay with this game, it was the game they were waiting for.

The game began with Hikaru claiming upper right komoku.

Pachi

Akira didn't waste his time to choose 4-4, hoshi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Hikaru tapped the clock, his eyes narrowed at the board. There were five stones on the board and he could already read Akira's emotion laid out so clearly.

Impatience and excitement, it seemed all feelings he was holding back was flooding out in this game.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The battle had started in the corner and for the first time since the game began Hikaru took a long while to reconsider his move. He read the board, his eyes narrowing as he could foresee a great disadvantage he would get if he let Akira to connect.

(2-7) An attack to cut Akira's future shape.

Akira glanced up from the board to Hikaru who tapped the clock after that move. Hikaru was reading the board ahead again, as usual his skill at this was beyond Akira's. In fact even high dan players would be hard pressed to match Hikaru when it came to reading ahead.

But…

Pachi!

No one knew Hikaru's Go better than him and Hikaru's master, Sai.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes at the latest move.

Pachi!

Their audiences grimaced, the game was already so complex it was hard to keep up with them. Tsuruga was very frantic as he tried his best to keep up recording the game.

_'They responded correctly to each other moves in instant, just like pro player…' _ Hidaka and Kishimoto thought.

They slowed down their pace and started to give their game more thought, impatience was replaced by caution and contemplation.

Hikaru had a big enough cluster on the bottom right, and he had defended it well against Akira's assault. However the other part of the board was still unclaimed, and the battle was slowly spreading to the top part of the board. The game so far was still even but neither of them could afford to be idle for long.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Akira realized while he wanted the battle to spread to the top part Hikaru wanted to claim the left territory. Should he follow or should they withdraw from each other territory to spread more influence first? No, of course not.

Pachi!

He wanted a battle!

As expected Akira wouldn't want that kind of calm game. On top of the goban Akira was never one to back out from a battle, he would push you to the corner and cut your escape route so you had no choice but to face him. Hikaru didn't want to do anything else but that, he was done running away!

Pachi!

Pachi!

Pachi!

The game was getting erratic as it was almost the end of chuugen. It was still even and sooner or later, responding correctly to each other's moves was not enough to win.

Hikaru knew he could go above Akira any time when it came to take big risk on top of goban.

Pachi! (8-5) Hiraki

Akira paused and his fingers hover on top of his goke. It was a bad move from Hikaru, and of course he wouldn't believe it even for a moment there was no meaning on it. Hikaru's greatest strength was not in his vicious play, unique mix of old and new joseki or unpredictability. It was his deep strategy, so complex to the point you couldn't make head and tails out of it if you only saw his finished game.

Outreading Hikaru was not impossible, but doing it correctly was difficult and a dangerous bet.

Pachi!

Hikaru narrowed his eyes, he was blocked, however…

Pachi!

Akira smiled inwardly, he got that one correct. But he would be a fool to let his guard down.

Pachi.

Pachi.

Pachi

Hidaka squinted, she couldn't make sense of the last ten hands. Shindou was making a risky move just now but Touya didn't even deigned to exploit it, he went somewhere unexpected instead. These two, what did they saw?

Pachi!

Akira paused again and this time he had to spend three minutes before he decided where to place his next stone.

The game somehow gained a slow pace, and each move played so cautiously with intensity that almost choking.

The game reached yose and Akira panicked when he realized the last three suspicious moves that were also hidden trap he managed to dodge was actually a large trap together and his white stone on the center was dying. Now Hikaru was leading the game, and in yose Hikaru was at his strongest.

Pachi!

Akira was trying to save his stones, as he had no other choice or he had to resign.

Hikaru knew there was no way Akira would resign as long as he still had a chance so he pushed on. It was like a dance of monochrome on top of the goban, neither of them wanted to give in and as hard as they tried to keep track of the territory as the game reached the end, neither of them could tell who had won the game.

Whoever won, it was not by much as they couldn't tell just from looking at the end result. So impatiently Akira and Hikaru rearranged their stones so they could count their territory accurately.

Pachi

Pachi

Clack Clack

Sound of stones grazing the wooden surface as two hands shifted each stones, stone clacking against agehama for dead stones, they echoed through the room. The audiences were watching the territory count with bated breath.

Pachi!

Then they stared at the board, silently counting the territory.

"Ah… " Kishimoto broke the silence and said, "One and half moku… for black… it's Shindou-san's win."

They almost jumped in fright when Akira stood up abruptly, there was no sadness on his face but plain anxiety as he looked at his friend's face. Hikaru in the other hand blinked at the board, before he looked back and forth between Akira's face, the goban, and the empty air on his left.

"I won?"

Akira nodded. "Yes."

Then all of a sudden a string of helpless giggle flowed from his lips, then followed by tears. "Ha ha ha… so that's how it is…"

"Hikaru?!" Akira yelped before he moved towards his friend, holding his shoulders firmly as if he was afraid his friend was going to fall over from the crying and laughter. "Are you alright? No pain? You can breathe?" Akira was ranting and frantic with worry.

"I am fine! I am fine!" Hikaru said cheerfully. "I just… can't believe how blind I was all this time! The solution is so simple." He said in a whisper so only Akira who was close could hear him. "I just have to remember what is the meaning of my Go in the first place… why did I play Go? My go… myself… I exist for someone else… but someone else also existed for mine too…"

"Eh?"

Hikaru smiled at his friend and said one line he wanted to say more than anything to Akira, "I am fine now Akira, so let's play hundreds and thousands of games from now on… you and I…"

"Eh?" Akira blinked owlishly again before slowly but steadily he began to comprehend what Hikaru just told him. "From now one we can…"

"As much as we wanted…" Hikaru assured him.

"We… "

"We also going to take that pro exam you wanted to take together this year." Hikaru added with a grin.

The next thing Hikaru knew, Akira was crying to his chest.

"Aa… Akira! I am not going to collapse! I am fine! Don't cry! You know I hate it when you…" He said frantically, blushing furiously when he realized they still had their audience gaping at them.

"I am just… hic! So happy!" Akira cried, "I am so happy for you."

"I get it! I get it! But can we… argh! Stop staring!" He yelled at their dumbstruck audience.

Hidaka's camera phone flashed a couple of times.

"Hey!" Hikaru cried, "That's… "

Hidaka grinned, "I will keep this for free shidougo session, after this it would be hard to get some tutoring session from you so I want some leverage."

"That's blackmailing!" He cried and he was about to say something more but couldn't because Akira dragged him away by his hand. "A… Akira?!"

Akira still had tears on his eyes, but he was beaming with happiness. "Come on! Let's go home! We have to play loads to make up for the lost time!"

Hikaru blinked owlishly at that, "Ah sure?" He answered dumbly.

"Beside! The pro exam is in three months and five days!" Akira informed him hastily.

"EH? You even keep track of the day? It's on August, now is May!"

"You don't think we will pass easily, do you?" Akira asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, but…"

"We need practice!"

"Yes of course! But Akira, calm down a little!"

"I can't!"

Then the door slammed shut, and Kishimoto and his clubmates stared bewilderedly at the whirlwind called Shindou Hikaru and Touya Akira that just left their club room.

"Is that… Touya?" Tsuruga sputtered.

Kishimoto nodded hesitantly, "He is like different person around Shindou-san, and… I can't believe he dragged Shindou-san around as he please."

Hidaka groaned, "And that's… the future of Japan's go world, man… are we lucky or doomed?"

Kishimoto shrugged, "Who knows… but one thing for sure, I am looking forward for summer to come… they're going to take the pro world by the storm." He said as he walked to the nearest window where he could watch Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru running across the school yard, or rather Touya dragged him out of the school.

* * *

**Now... that's a long way and at last Hikaru overcome his fear, I hope it's not anti-climatic or anything... at first I want Hikaru to replace Akira playing the three bullies but in the end I think it's Akira's job to show his determination. Which make Hikaru realized Akira is playing for him and he should be able to do the same... **

**HOpe you like this chapter and your long wait is worthwhile. I am working on third chapter of Honinbou but I think that one will be delayed long because I want to make it very different from Monogatari. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Their Days**

It was a long time ago, memory of their first days together. When Hikaru realized he was blessed by God to be never alone after his parents left him and his old grandfather took him in. Hikaru was a smart boy, and before his mother's death he was too active and easily distracted to learn anything that needed patience. Death of course was a powerful catalysis that taught even a naïve boy like him that life was so feeble and fleeting.

His grandfather was old and as much as Hikaru hated it, it was very likely his grandfather who was already his sixties and while relatively healthy for now won't be always with him. His young mother passed away in a blink of an eye, why not his grandfather?

Then Sai-aniue came to his life, a thousand years old Go player who Hikaru believed would never leave him. Hikaru was selfish enough to latch himself to Sai even though the Go player lived in his heart, simply because Sai would never disappear on him. Just like Torajioru left Sai, Hikaru believed he wouldn't outlive Sai.

Pachi

Pachi

"I resign." Hikaru looked up to his ghost tutor. "If I continue, by yose I would have lost by three to six moku."

Sai nodded happily, "Day by day your reading is getting much better and farther, Hikaru." Then, using his fan Sai pointed at one particular spot. "This… in here you use nozoki, but I am confident you can tell there is a better and stronger respond."

Hikaru hummed as his chubby childish finger picked a black stone and placed it on the goban. Sai nodded approvingly at the change. "Ne… Aniue, will one day I can make you my rival?"

Sai smiled at him, "I would love to see you grow to be my equal, Hikaru…"

The blond banged boy beamed at that, "I will do my best for you, aniue!"

The ghost tensed at that, "Uhm… Hikaru, how about you?"

"About me?" He echoed, "What about me, aniue?"

Sai fiddled with his fan with a tad of nervousness, "Well… I am glad you want to work hard to be as strong as I am but Hikaru, how about yourself?"

He had never asked that to Torajirou, because to him Torajirou was a companion who strived for Hand of God together. Torajirou played for him because he wanted to see the Hand of God, not playing it. Hikaru in the other hand wanted to be one who played the legendary hand _with_ him. Both Hikaru and Torajirou were the same age when they met Sai but somehow they strived in diverging path for his sake. He had never felt guilty for Torajirou because he knew Torajirou was happy to live as his proxy, but Hikaru…

"I… I just want to play Go because it makes you happy aniue… I think I love Go too but I…"

Wave of sadness crashed to the shore of Sai's mind and the ghost tutor realized this child before him didn't hold genuine love for the game in spite of brimming talent he had. Go to Hikaru was an anchor for his beloved ones, so they won't leave him alone.

Sai took a deep breath, "Hikaru… clear the board, let's play another game."

Hikaru frowned but quickly obeyed Sai's order, clearing the board and returned monochrome colored stones back to the goke. When he looked up to say the game greeting he was surprised to see Sai giving him such a sad and apologetic face. However he had no courage to ask why his tutor made such a face and played as he was told.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The game didn't even reach half of chuugen and in fact there was no fight for territory. It was pure slaughter as his master didn't fight for territory, just hitting black's weakness, leaving all black stones on the goban devoid of life.

"Hikaru…"

The young boy was shaking as he choked out his resignation, and tearfully he looked up to his mentor. "Yes, aniue…"

Sai gave him a sad smile, "Hikaru… you're my precious disciple, I have no wish to raise your Go to be devoid of life…" He murmured as he looked to the game they just had. "There are three things I believe are essential to be a great Go player… first, the love for the game…. Second, dedication to work hard, and third is… talent."

"I… I…"

"Hikaru…" Sai called him gently, "I believe you have the third, pure talent… I have heard from Heihachi-dono you can memorize and recreate game after few months of playing, and just from watching your understanding of the game increased exponentially… I believe deep down you have the first and second one too but…"

"But?" Hikaru echoed tearfully.

"Your hard work is for us who loves the game… And you see Go as a way to please us who loves the game." Sai intoned in sad tone. "Heihachi-dono and I loves you Hikaru… but please, why don't you love Go and work hard for it for yourself?"

Hikaru nodded numbly, still shaken from merciless game his mentor inflicted upon him. Sai was not being cruel to his disciple; he did this out of necessity. If Hikaru that time thought Sai was doing this so he could be a better player who loves Go genuinely just like Sai, the Heian ghost had another intention in mind.

Unknown to Hikaru and Heihachi that was when Sai started to say his goal in afterlife was to find the Hand of God _with_ Hikaru.

* * *

Four years later, Touya Akira barreled to their life and breaking all walls Hikaru put up. Then the boy pulled Hikaru out of his shell, giving his brother's Go a purpose. A true purpose unlike the hollow one his brother imposed on himself all these years, a purpose that healed Hikaru's heart from that wound.

"Hikaru, come on!" Touya Akira said excitedly as he tugged Hikaru's hand harder to get the other boy to walk faster on their way home.

It was funny because Hikaru could outrun Akira any day but for some reason Hikaru seemed content to have Akira dragging him. "You're too excited." He deadpanned with a fond smile.

Yes, because Hikaru instinctively knew Akira was the one who will pull him forward to their future. It was some sort of symbolic acceptance of their bond.

* * *

That was when Sai got another epiphany about his purpose in afterlife and why God so generously granted a selfish wish of someone who ended his own life. For a moment a glimmer of resentment and envy assaulted his heart but squashed so quickly because he loved Hikaru too much to hate his surrogate brother.

And one day… Hikaru will…

"Ani-ue?" Hikaru's voice snapped him out of his musing.

Sai then realized Hikaru was replaying the tenth game he had with Akira few days ago. The Meijin's heir was too excited and enthusiastic about their game to the point he and Hikaru played ten straight games until late at night. Both boys were equally guilty when Heihachi had to drag both of them to their futon to rest even though in the end they couldn't asleep because of adrenaline rush. In the end they played blind Go until Heihachi caught and scolded them. It was not until four in the morning the adrenaline and excitement wore off and exhaustion won, Hikaru and Akira managed to sleep.

It was fortunate the next day was Saturday so they could rest well after exhausting themselves. Akira had to go home reluctantly in the afternoon though, because his mother was getting worried. Akira had to suffer interrogation at home when Heihachi explained to the Meijin and Akiko about why their son stayed over without permission.

Boys would be boys, they said. Inwardly both Heihachi and Akira's parents were pleased with themselves because never in twelve years they imagined they could use that line in regards to their boys.

"Ani-ue!" Hikaru called him again and Sai realized he was once again spacing out. "Something on your mind?"

Sai laughed nervously behind his fan. "Ah… it's nothing, you and Akira-kun played brilliant games…"

Hikaru beamed at him proudly, "Hai! It's… so fun, and it feels hard to breathe whenever we finish a game but… it's addicting rush I can't get enough of!" Then he added sheepishly, "Thankfully grandfather stopped us from playing another game… we were so tired but we want to play again and again so much that…"

He understood the desire to play Go again and again but Sai never had the feeling of wanting to play against a rival with drug like euphoria Hikaru felt.

"I am sure as time passed the adrenaline will wear off quicker." Sai offered loftily. At least he hoped that was the case, but from what he saw by their tenth game Hikaru and Akira looked calmed down enough to listen to Heihachi-dono long enough to stop the frenzy.

Hikaru grinned at that sheepishly, "Yeah… by the way aniue, is this how you felt when you play Oouta Yuuzo?" That was the name of Torajirou's friend and rival.

Sai tensed slightly and said, "Hum… I guess…" Sai could tell he sounded unsure and his disciple knew it. Actually while Oouta was a magnificent player and a friend, Sai had played carefully against him under Torajirou's request. He could have won against Oouta faster but… in the end Torajirou allowed Sai to play at full strength against Oouta when he knew his friend wouldn't have a long life. He was a good player but not a rival to Sai.

"Oh." Hikaru mouthed softly.

And that was when the idea of 'getting him a game against Touya Meijin' made themselves a way to Hikaru's head.

* * *

**The next day… **

"So… what is the chance of your father picking up Net-go?" Hikaru asked when he and Akira were in the middle of clearing the board to start a new game.

His surrogate brother and mentor was far enough to not hear their conversation as Sai was busy watching the game between Hirose-san and Kitagawa-san, apparently the two old rivals were at it again. They prone to missed out the most important point in their game because their board reading game were pretty bad, so any good player was in for heart racing game when watching them.

Akira quirked an eyebrow at him as the dark haired boy poured his handful of white stones back to the goke. "Hm… by rhetorical scenario, father has to be stranded in a place with no access to real goban but digital one." Akira informed him in flatly.

"Your father is the Meijin." What was the chance of him stranded in a place without access to a Goban? "And he doesn't even know what email is, last time you said…"

Akira nodded, "Father is computer illiterate." Which was not a rarity among older generation of Go players. "And father… uhm… he dislike the idea of playing Go anonymously online."

That was the reason he and his brother played online, although they ended up becoming a celebrity regardless of anonymity. "I see…"

"Hikaru?"

"Hm?"

"You… want to arrange a game between Sai-sensei and my father?" Akira said it as a question but both of them knew it was a statement.

Hikaru nodded, "My teacher is already without rival online… even though some top pro players are playing online from time to time…"

"Like Yang Hai of China and An Teson of Korea?"

"Ichiryuu Kisei too." Hikaru added, "Shishou beat him months ago already."

Akira's eyes widened at that, "Really? Can I see the kifu?"

Hikaru snorted at that, "I will recreate it for you now, but well… a good game with good players and that's it." Akira frowned at him. "Ichiryuu Kisei is strong, but against my shishou… uhm… it's a good and amazing game but not… inspirational." Hikaru murmured as he fingers tapped the agehama absentmindedly.

Oh, so Hikaru thought it was his father who could be Sai-sensei's rival and Akira agreed wholeheartedly. But as they knew, the chance of his father picking up Net-Go while the Meijin was a computer illiterate was slim to none.

"And Shishou said let fate decide when he and your father meet across the goban, digital or not." Hikaru added with a sigh, snapping Akira out of his short muse. "Never mind the idea, but then again your father… uhm…is he alright?"

Akira raised an eyebrow at him, "He just need to win one more game to win Jyuudan title, father is in top condition." He said as he passed the goke to Hikaru.

Hikaru chuckled softly at that as he accepted the goke and placed it next to each other, "Looking at the kifu of the two first games the current Jyuudan is in big trouble, the _flow_ is totally not on his side." Hikaru murmured as he began recreating the game. "With two losses hanging on his head, even a pro in title holder level would have a hard time playing at their best." His eyes narrowed, "However… emotion is a fickle thing in Go, rushing to win when it's right within your sight is no good either…"

Pachi

Pachi

"Ah…"

"But I think your father have no such problem…" He murmured softly. "All of his games I have seen, I can feel immovable resolution… calm and steady game, he attack and defend with iron heart."

Pachi

"Is that so?" Akira asked curiously.

Pachi

Hikaru nodded, "Hm, his latest games… I didn't see even a hand that has a speck of faltering emotion. I guess that's the kind of heart you have after playing so many high level games…"

Akira swallowed and asked, "Then… how about my hands?"

Hikaru paused from his game recreation, his eyes locked to Akira's. "If I tell you that Touya Meijin is Touya Meijin and you are you… no, that's not the answer you seek." He sighed exasperatedly. "We're young Akira… there's no way we can have that iron heart our master possessed st this young age, and that's why in each game we learn to control our emotion so it can only give positive effect to our game… sensei said in a sense that also the reason we have more room to grow too."

Akira looked flustered by that answer, "Uhm… you're right."

"But I have to admit…" Hikaru eyed Akira skeptically, "You're an emotional person, and it shows in your game…"

"EH?"

Hikaru tapped his chin with his fan, "I mean… it's not like I have a good grasp on my emotion myself but Akira you…"

"OI! Shindou! Touya!"

Both prodigies almost jumped in shock at the voice, "Ka… Kaga-san!"

The redhead was dragging an orange haired boy by his gakuran's collar, and Tsutsui walked a few steps behind them. "Yo!" He greeted them once his group was just a few steps away from their regular spot. "I need you to work on some magic on this guy!"

Hikaru sweat-dropped at Kaga who was grinning like a chesire cat at him. "When we said you're welcome to bring anyone to play, we didn't mean _dragging _people against their will."

Kaga rolled his eyes, "I learned my lesson painfully, thank you very much Shindou-_sensei_." He said, wincing at the phantom pain that bloomed on his back at the memory. "Lend me your ear for a sec." He said as he leaned in.

Hikaru sighed as he let Kaga whispered to his ear, inwardly promising pain if the red head trying something funny. "So?"

"This kid have a cheating problem, Tsutsui and I rescued him after he got kicked out of Go salon he frequented in… this kid might as well define every delinquent aspect of Go." Kaga explained in a whisper, "Get why I can't say it out loud? Touya will fly into rage if he heard I bring this kind of kid to his father's Go salon." He hissed in urgent tone.

Kaga had learned it the hard way about Touya's temper. Shindou was the scarier of the two when his temper was tested but Touya was the one whose temper was easier to ignite and explosive. With Shindou he would settle to grovel before the younger boy resort to talk him down mercilessly or getting physical, with Touya it would be endless headache and urge to throttle the Meijin's son and risked angering Shindou. Which mean the pain was double.

Hikaru frowned, _"A cheater."_

_'The other Go Tutor of the emperor cheated and…  
I was the only one who saw his dishonest conduct… and yet I was the one... the emperor banished from the court for it.' _

He narrowed his eyes, glancing at the scowling orange haired boy Kaga dragged. "Hm… I see…" His lips curved up to an amused smile. "What's your name?" He asked the Haze junior, "I am Shindou Hikaru, first year Kaiou Middle school."

He raised an amused eyebrow at Hikaru and answered, "Mitani Yuuki, first year… Haze Middle School." He glanced at Kaga, "I thought Kaio is the top placer of that tournament you guys wanted to join so… why you drag me to a Kaio guy?"

"To fix you." Kaga answered nonchalantly. "Play a game with Shindou, if you win, you're free to go but if you lose the game… you're ours."

"Interesting."

Akira opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw his friend moved to the chair of table beside the one they used so they were sitting side by side. "Hikaru?"

"Scoot here a little closer Akira." He waved his friend to move his chair closer and Akira obeyed.

Mitani took the seat across Hikaru's, smirking mischievously. "A tag team?"

"Ha ha ha, no…" Hikaru replied in amused tone. "It's for your safety."

Before any of them could voice a question Hikaru had placed a handful of white stones on the goban. "Nigiri."

Kaga snorted, "Instead of nigiri I think you should tell him to place four stones at least."

Mitani growled at Kaga as he placed a black stone on the board. "I don't need handicap!"

The shogi player whistled, "You will regret it."

Hikaru parted two stones from the pile and he got nine stones. "Your guidance please." He said as he placed the white stones back to the goke.

Mitani narrowed his eyes at Hikaru, "Your guidance please…" Then he started the game with claiming a star point.

Hikaru responded with claiming a komoku.

Ten hands later Hikaru already get the rough estimation of Mitani's skill. _'He is not bad… hm… around Kaga-san's level, but still below Kishimoto-senpai's… I will not go easy on him but I shouldn't go at full power either. However… he plays an interesting Go. Hm…'_

Sai who was watching in the sidelines was excited, _'My… he plays a cutthroat game! He is a little like Akira-kun in viciousness but he has interesting recklessness Akira-kun lack.' _

_'Akira? Reckless? When it comes to Go, reckless is not for him... most of the time… at least.'_

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Hikaru's fingers dug to his goke, they had almost reached chuuban. He stopped on his track when he realized something was off. "Mitani-_kun_, your move please…"

As expected Akira almost stood up abruptly from his seat but Hikaru was fast enough to grab his arm. "You! Just now, you tapped the stone on the board and take it back!"

Mitani smirked, "The rule is... as long as the stone is not released from our finger it's still valid to move it… it never leave my fingers so I didn't break any rule."

"You're trying to deceive Hikaru with the sound!" Akira hissed angrily.

Kaga rolled his eyes, _'I knew it, Touya will fly off of his handle.' _While Tsutsui shivered on his feet.

"And he is not fooled." Mitani said nonchalantly. "He is a smart guy, and you're not the one playing… why you're so riled up when your friend who plays is still smiling?"

"Hikaru!" Akira hissed at his friend. "This boy! He!"

The long haired boy patted his friend's shoulder in comforting gesture. "Calm down Akira… I am not blind." He said with a grin. "So, your move? Or do you need some more time to think?" He offered genially.

"Hmph!" Mitani placed his stone and the game resumed.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

They almost reaching the mid of chuugen, thus around half of the board was full of monochrome colored stones. Most amateur level player won't notice it but Hikaru and Akira didn't miss it when they saw a stone was displaced a grid off from its original position right after Mitani's turn.

"You!"

"Akira…" Hikaru pulled his best friend and rival down back to his chair. "I saw it…"

Mitani scowled, "You saw what?"

"Never mind…"

"NEVER MIND?!" Akira almost screeched. "Hikaru, how could you let him do that?!"

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly. "Okay… play time is over." He hummed, "It's not like I want to count territory later…"

"Heh?" This guy, he knew that the real cheating would be done at that point?!

Pachi!

Mitani placed his stone in respond.

Pachi

Pachi

"EH?"

Pachi

Pachi

_'Fast! This is not speed go, why the hell this guy play me with this kind of speed?' _

Then the guy suddenly stopped, looking at the board with serious intense eyes that almost made Mitani gasped in fear. However the next move he made was a bad one, so bad that not even a complete amateur would do it.

Pachi

Mitani was not kind enough to ignore that mistake and exploited it without second thought

Twenty hands later Mitani gasped in shock when the move he made because of that mistake resulted to his formations crumbling and his biggest cluster of stone died a violent death.

Pachi

And that last move cut his escape route.

He didn't want to say it but his pride was on the line. In game of Go not resigning when you know your lost was inevitable was not the sign of pride but idiocy, no skilled player worthy of their rank would stubbornly keep playing a game they had lost.

"Makemashita." Mitani choked out, gritting his teeth.

Hikaru smiled at him, "Thank you for the game, Mitani-kun." Then he glanced at Tsutsui, "With a little polishing, he will be a good opponent for Kaio's first board Kishimoto-senpai."

"No! He is not!" Akira refuted that statement in a flash. "You _let_ him to cheat! I can't believe you!"

"I didn't let him cheat when counting territory as the game didn't even reach yose, Akira…" Hikaru corrected. "And I believe getting angry at him over tapping the stone, shifting the stones five times and what else the trick he has on his sleeve… it is not going to be any use." Hikaru murmured in solemn tone. "And it's not like he can win against me even if he cheat."

That cut deeper than anything to Mitani, for this guy to blatantly stating Mitani couldn't win even with cheating. "You…"

"And…" Kaga sang, fully intend to take Mitani down a couple of pegs because it was not enough beating. "He is holding back _a lot _against you."

"WHAT?!" Mitani hollered.

Kaga whistled, inspecting his blunt nails. "Well… if he is serious, I doubt the game will even reach chuuban."

"I didn't go easy on you at all though." Hikaru said pointedly, not even bothering denying Kaga's statement.

Akira raised an eyebrow at him. "Shidougo?"

"Kind of." Hikaru said as he began to clear the game from the goban.

Mitani had never felt so humiliated on his life, not even when he lost against that fat old man and kicked out of the Go salon he used to frequent in. "You… you…"

"Cat got your tongue?" Kaga snickered.

That's it! Mitani left the scene in a huff, screaming profanities on his way out. The adults in the Go salon were used to polite children like Hikaru and Akira, so they couldn't help but gape at the retreating Mitani.

Hikaru hummed as he returned stones of both color to its respective goke and said. "Tell him about our schedule if he come to ask for another game." He told Kaga and Tsutsui.

"Heh?" Tsutsui and Kaga chorused. "You want to play again with that kid?!"

Akira protested, "Hikaru!"

"Actually… next time he come to us, play him Akira." Hikaru said with a grin.

Akira sputtered, "What?!"

"He will be a good student for you to learn patience." Hikaru said without shame and guilt. "You will improve a lot if you can keep your calm whenever you spot him cheating."

"I'd rather not!"

Kaga burst to laughter at the suggestion.

In spite of his outrage and humiliation, Mitani came by the Go salon repeatedly without fail to find both Hikaru and Akira. True to Hikaru's statement, he refused to give Mitani another game until the orange haired boy played Akira. His best friend was horrified Hikaru was fully intend to dump Mitani on him, in one hand he hated cheater like Mitani with passion for disrespecting the game but in another hand he couldn't back down from a challenge. Especially when Hikaru was the one who gave it to him.

In the end Mitani ended up became his reluctant student, much to both side's chagrin and ire.

"You missed the tsuke in this part." Akira said in the calmest voice he could muster.

Mitani scowled, "I know… I should have played nozoki here and then save the cluster over here."

Pachi

Pachi

Akira gritted his teeth, "Really? Then how you explain this incorrect respond to my keima over here?!"

Mitani really wanted to throttle Touya Akira, but he knew better than doing that to someone who was doing him a favor no matter how reluctant his teacher was. Not to mention this was Touya Akira's father's Go salon, he had no wish to be kicked out from another Go salon. No, thank you.

"Apparently he didn't shout only at you when Go was concerned, although it's a different kind of shouting… he sounds like my English teacher." Kaga commented. "I pity anyone who got him as tutor once you guys passed that exam."

"Which mean…" Hikaru trailed off with a sigh, "I really hate to imagine him dealing with the more unpleasant ones, old folks in my study group loves joining tournament and they tell all sort of stories about pro's work in that tournament… they had to deal with unpleasant officials and politicians…"

"What?"

"Maybe I worry too early, as we should worry to pass the exam first." Hikaru said thoughtfully, "We will deal with that after we pass."

Hikaru at this point gave up correcting people that, No, their passing of the exam was not a foregone conclusion. No one bothered to agree, as they thought he and Akira were being modest.

"I think he will only do that to people who are playing Go more than just for pleasure." Hikaru said as he responded to Tsutsui's move. Tsutsui was not horrible at fuseki and chuuban, but compared to his yose, Tsutsui looked blind in comparison in the beginning of the game. Kishimoto-senpai better appreciated his effort to give them a good game in summer festival.

"Like I said… I am so glad I am going to take shogi pro exam this year, and I still pity anyone who will be his future student…"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "At any rate…" Hikaru trailed off with a sigh, "I really hate to imagine him dealing with the more unpleasant ones, old folks in my study group loves joining tournament and they tell all sort of stories about pro's work in that tournament… they had to deal with unpleasant officials and politicians…"

"Sensei…" Sarcastic feminine voice belonged to Hidaka Yuri called him, "Pay attention to your game… it's so rude of you to ignore a lady."

Hikaru suppressed his urge to let our an exasperated sigh, "My apologies Hidaka-senpai but I didn't ignore you or the game."

"Yeah! Don't be mean to Hikaru!" Akari who was playing on his left said.

"Excuse me?" Hidaka snorted at the younger girl, "Mean? Are you a grade school student?"

Akari bristled on her seat.

Tsutsui was plain uncomfortable to be the witness of the two way battle, and pitied Hikaru who was the center of it.

While he appreciated Akari-san speaking in his defense, he didn't need a catfight in the middle of shidougo. Why oh why these two decided to ask for shidougo in the same time? And because they argued about who got to play first, Hikaru agreed to tutor them both in the same time. A perfect solution usually when there were too many people for one on one, but no…

Hidaka-senpai had the gall to comment about how he also had a talent for two timing girls, and Hikaru wondered how shidougo was related to dating. Then Kaga of all people gave him a look, then discreetly wiggled both of his pinkie fingers and pointed it at Akari-san and Hidaka-senpai. He didn't get it, but Sai-aniue helpfully told him loud and clear. Both girls had crush on him, and they were fighting for his attention.

Hikaru thought Hidaka-senpai disliked him, but apparently her constant teasing meant something else. .

Sai-aniue did drop some hints about what these two were fighting over though. He knew about Akari-san but Hidaka-senpai was a surprise.

Although it seemed both girl were wise enough to not make a move because there was no way he was interested in relationship when pro exam was looming in horizon and he was more concerned abour career than relationship. He was twelve anyway, and it was troublesome that no girls in school got the hint as he and Akira were tired get called for confession. The reason the rejection number didn't increase was simply because they were so busy they forgot coming after around the tenth one.

Although Akira almost landed himself in big trouble when he innocently wondered if he knew the girl he just rejected the day before on the said girl's face. Hikaru somehow managed to save Akira from the fate of being slapped with informing the said girl Akira just showed up for three confessions yesterday and he had a long study hour for exam.

They ended up with label workaholic by the end of the day when the news of their insane study schedule spread in school.

Thankfully no girls were holding grudge after that as the news about their decision to enter pro exam spread like wildfire. The boys wondered why they thought they had to work at twelve going thirteen, and the only explanation was career as professional player usually better to start since young. Not that they understood Hikaru and Akira any better after the explanation.

"You need more than nine stones!" Hidaka pointed out when they restarted another game.

"Nine is enough!" Akari retorted.

Hikaru had enough, "Girls, can we continue the game?"

They spared each other one last glare before they were back to their seats and continue the game as Hikaru asked. "Hmph!"

Sai had the gall to laugh at his brother's misery, and Hikaru wondered how the hell his brother enjoyed company of multiple girls in Heian court if two was already this difficult. Hikaru also didn't like how Sai answered that he _will_ enjoy it when he grew up and appreciate living up to his name. Hikaru was getting tired to correct his surrogate brother he was not named after Hikaru Genji.

Unknown to Hikaru, Heihachi was being merciful to not reveal that his wife and daughter in law were fans of Hikaru Genji and kind enough to convince them to not write his name with kanji 'shining' in his birth certificate. The boy didn't need blatant reminder he was named after the greatest player in Japanese literature.

* * *

At some point peoples around them, ranging from Ichikawa-san, Kaga even Sai-ani ue and his grandfather were convinced Hikaru and Akira had tendency to run to trouble when not in each other's company. Sure, since they start to become friends, they hardly away from each other but they survived twelve years just fine. Sai-aniue helpfully reminded them about school tournament, go club bullies and Touya Meijin challenge. The latter was not exactly a trouble, but Sai-aniue thought they tend to get to unwanted situation when separated.

Hikaru rolled his eyes at that.

So one on Saturday morning, when Akira for the first time in months couldn't stay over because his family went to visit his aunt from his mother's side in Nagano, Sai wondered what would happen that day. Hikaru thought his brother was getting paranoid, nothing bad will happen just because he was away from Akira for one day. Sure, the whole Kaio Middle School was convinced there was some sort of freaky dependency going between him and Akira. Whatever that meant, Hikaru was not helpless without Akira around and vice-versa.

Then the bell of his house rang, and he went to the door to receive his guest. It was Ichihashi-san, and she was rambling something incoherently. All he could make out from Ichihashi-san's rambling was model, food poisoning, emergency, and lots of pleading. Pleading that sounded like Ichikashi-san owed him her life if he came to her rescue as soon as possible.

"What?" Was his most intelligent response to Ichikashi-san's plea.

Ichihashi-san's son, Natsuya who was driving the car barked at his mother and Hikaru. "Hikaru-kun! Just… get inside the car, all you need to do to help us are be pretty and elegant!" Then he added as an afterthought, "You do that all the time anyway!"

He didn't do that all the time and he was definitely not…

However his protest never left the tip of his tongue because he had his hands full of bawling Ichihashi-san. Hikaru was not someone who easily bent down to anyone's will, however when faced by teary eyes of a middle-aged woman who was convinced you're holding her life in your hands…

He couldn't say no, Sai-aniue always told him to respect woman and treat them well. He was always fond of Ichihashi-san, even though she gushed how cute and pretty he was 24/7, dressed him up and raided his wardrobe to the point he barely had normal clothes.

So reluctantly with a sense of trepidation, Hikaru hopped on Ichihashi-san's car.

Later at the end of the day Hikaru reflected on the stupidity of questioning his incorporeal tutor, didn't he learn enough when he got lost on his way to his own house? He and Sai-aniue had this thing going when they said something along the line 'what the worse could happen?' the famous last word. God and Murphy law had something against them for sure.

That was how Akira who came to stay over on Sunday instead found his best friend with full blond hair from the tips to the roots.

His jaw dropped, "You washed the dye off? Why?" He still looked very much like Hikaru but it was a little odd to see Hikaru's natural look that didn't look natural on him. Hikaru had Japanese face but his coloring wasn't, although his skin color was Japanese unlike his eyes and hair. Not that Akira cared too much about Hikaru's hair, but he was worried what prompted his friend to wash the dye off.

"Akira…" He moaned as if he was in pain. "I got a headache."

Hikaru looked like he was going to cry but thankfully he didn't, but he had this forlorn look on his face as he leaned in, placed his forehead on top of Akira's left shoulder, and started rambling about photo-shoot, model and crazy photographer.

Akira could do nothing but patted his best friend's back comfortingly and distracted Hikaru with playing speed go nonstop.

By the next day the headache returned with vengeance at school and Akira got the share of it. Apparently with Hikaru's hair full blond now, the girls found them looking even more novel than ever with their contrasting looks.

They didn't get the novelty and immensely grateful when the teachers put their foot down with the illegal photo taking fiasco and banned taking picture of your classmate without permission. Suddenly all girls were on board with the idea of them going pro as soon as possible because that meant the Go weekly and other sport magazine will publish their photo.

* * *

**July, the start of Summer Vacation**

"Why…." He groaned in frustrated voice, scrolling down the list of name in his computer. "Sai and Kou are online less and less lately! Man! I want to watch their game!" Waya Yoshitaka, an insei of fourteen years old whined to his computer screen.

The whole community of Net-Go was in crisis because Kou and Sai were rarely online lately, in fact since spring of this year their online frequency decrease from almost every day to a few times a week and lately the absence could stretch to weeks.

Waya was stressed over the idea if the two most brilliant players of Net-Go were really going to disappear on them. He had the prelim exam to worry about, but he was sure he could pass it unless his luck was suck to face people stronger than him three times in a row or something. Then again he had never did not pass the prelim so he was not too worried about it.

The insei blinked owlishly, "Wait… from our speculation Sai is an adult… someone who have lots of time to play online, a shut in… someone with bad physical handicap or someone who work at home… but Kou… starting from April he never online in the morning anymore... a student?" There was a speculation he was an adult too but some pros who played online were convinced the play style was that of someone young, talented but young. He had experience but online players with keen eyes agreed he was someone young, with how he played more experimentally than Sai online. As if he was till looking for his own Go.

If Sai's games were magnificent and beautiful, Kou's were attention grabbing, exciting but somehow manage to be aesthetically pleasant to watch like his master.

Waya played Sai once but he didn't get to play Kou at all. Not to mention Kou liked to accept private game challenge, which make the game impossible to watch by other players.

"And of all games in private… Ogata-9dan got one and refused to release the detail." Waya moaned. "Then again… a lot of high ranked players who requested such game from Kou refused to release the kifu, why is that?" He wondered out loud.

* * *

**Shindou Residence**

"You know… Ogata-san told me in last study session at my house that online players are getting restless because you and Sai-san's appearance online decrease drastically for the last few months." Akira said as he brought the juicy red cut of watermelon to his mouth. It was the perfect fruit for summer in Japan. Akira was learning Chinese from Hikaru, the Meijin's heir saw the the advantage of learning the language as China was the origin of Go. Hikaru learned Chinese from Sai but he ended up relearning online more because Sai's Chinese was one thousand years out of date. Although Sai managed to renew his Chinese in Torajirou's era, but most Chinese learning under the Honinbou made effort to learn Japanese.

Hikaru chewed the fruit on his mouth before he replied. "Yeah, I know… but my teacher and I are busy for preparing our exam…"

Akira nodded, "True… but the problem is Ogata-san is also getting restless over it."

"I don't care." Hikaru replied in flat tone. "He knows who I am anyway…"

"I know you will say that…" Akira murmured as he took another bite of the sweet juicy fruit.

Then he glanced to the side where a fashion magazine, the very first one that ever entered Shindou's household since forever. And another one was photo book by a high profile photographer named Kosemura Hanzou. Akira recalled the new photographer who came with Amano-san few days ago also had Kosemura surname, a relative perhaps?

Hikaru sighed at the sight, "I want to burn it, if only I will not hurt Ichihashi-san's feeling in the process."

"Ichihashi-san's clothing line is a small one." Akira murmured. "How did they get someone like Kosemura Hanzou-san to be their photographer?"

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, "You see… the original photographer is Natsuya-san's friend, it supposed to be a free session for his portfolio. It's supposed to be a catalogue… it's not supposed to be in fashion magazine or become a photo book in the first place!" His voice raised as he listed on what supposed to happen and not. "That mad man came to see his student's working… Natsuya-san's friend… and suddenly he decide to freaking hijack the photo shoot!"

"Is that even allowed? Even though the original photographer is his student."

"I wasn't even supposed to be there!" Hikaru said in frustrating tone as he ran his fingers through his blond locks. "If only the model… some guy named Kise didn't get food poisoning! Then with that mad man in charge everything went down the hill! They put make up on me! They washed the dye off of my hair the moment they found out I am a natural blond and decided I looks _unique_ because of my Japanese face that way! They put me on dozen kinds of outfit! Traditional and modern-traditional ones to the point I lost track of it."

Akira flipped the photo book and stopped on the page where Hikaru was wearing a simple white yukata as he acted as if he fell asleep under a lush zelkova tree. He looked so peaceful and gave out soothing feeling. "You looked nice here." He complimented lamely.

Hikaru was not flattered by the compliment. "Thanks, and look at the title of the book and it got some background story too…"

Akira flipped the first page and found the said story. "The lost child?" In here was depicted as some sort of hanyou, hence the unusual coloring on his Japanese face and skin. It was a pretty fascinating story about how he secluded himself and went to a journey to find himself and lost his way. "Eeh…"

"Cliché? I think so too! In Classic club that kind of story belong to our trash bin! Fubuki-sensei would be insufferable once he found out about it!" He groaned in pain.

Akira sweat-dropped, "Aren't you glad we're in summer vacation now?"

"Yeah!" Hikaru gritted out. "The next thing you know, once we are back to school… people will start asking whether I am changing my career direction and whether you are joining me."

Akira shuddered, "Uhm… Ichihashi-san did eye me weirdly lately." Actually since forever but Akira was very hopeful he was not going to be dragged to this fashion fiasco.

"Aren't you glad your wardrobe is out of her reach?"

Akira rolled his eyes at that inquiry.

* * *

**Few Days later (Tokyo Go Institute) **

Hikaru cringed when he heard Akira's panicked voice from the speaker of his phone. "Did they misplace your document? That never happened before!"

The long haired boy sighed, "Not exactly… something about foreigner should have include extra documents and so on, they misunderstood… so I have to go to Ki'in in person to ensure them that I am a full Japanese citizen." He rolled his eyes, "If I know this will happen I would have dyed my hair full black to avoid this problem."

"Wait, Hikaru." Akira's voice tensed. "You're already there? In Ki'in?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you get there on your own?" He asked in worried tone.

The blond boy was ticked, "I am not! Ichihashi-san dropped me off here… but she has to go soon because she has an urgent appointment."

Akira gasped, "And how you will get back to your house on your own?" Akira asked anxiously, recalling of how easy his friend to get lost. Heck! Hikaru still got lost in school once in a while.

"That's…"

Akira didn't give him a chance to mull over his options. "Stay in the lobby, don't move, I will pick you up." He ordered sternly.

Hikaru flushed a deep red, "But I…"

"Don't bother to find your way on your own, I _can't _trust you on that." Akira said in flippant tone. "I trust you to get lost on the way to your own house."

"Akira… your faith in me is touching." He said sarcastically. "And fine, I will be a good boy and wait for you in Ki'in."

Then he ended the line with a huff. _'Seriously! That Akira!' _

_'His concern is valid.' _Sai said, grinning at his student. _'You can't blame him and you did get lost on your way home once.' _

Hikaru flushed a deep red at that. _'Well I…' _

"Anoo…"

The blond boy paused when he was about to walk out of the registration office. _'Insei?' _

The inseis were a pair of girls, a brunette and a raven haired girl with glasses. "Are you… the model from Zunon magazine?" She asked shyly as she held up her copy of Zunon, opening the page where Hikaru was posing with modern looking hakama.

If didn't help the clothes he wore that day looked a little like that only less flashy. "Ah…"

"You are, aren't you?!" She asked enthusiastically.

Why an insei brought Zunon magazine to Ki'in in the first place?! You're here to learn Go!

"Can you sign here? Pretty please? What's your name?" She asked sweetly.

This was not the first time he encounter this kind of request since the magazines were out for sale and the easiest solution was…

"Bonjour! Enchanté**…"** French he learned from his grandmother flowed through his lips flawlessly. "Parlez-vous français?" As expected the girls gave him a blank look in respond as he spoke in language alien to them.

"Eh? Bonjour… Merci?" The brunette tried.

"Comprenez-vous?" He asked, titling his head to the side.

She shook his head frantically.

He gave them a rueful smile and waved, "Je dois y aller…Je suis désolé, au revoir!"

Sitting on the lounge sofa of that third floor, two male inseis watched the whole exchange. The brunette with spiky hair gaped openly at his retreating female classmates and the blond boy. "He blows them off." They were pretty far but close enough to listen the blond speaking French.

The raven haired boy was few years older and was as shocked as his friend. "Uhm… why a foreigner is here in the first place? This is Go institute, Waya…"

Waya groaned. "Who cares! Help me here Isumi-san!" He pointed at the magnetic goban he put on the coffee table between them. He had laid out a tsumego problem from Shirakawa-san's latest match and Morishita-sensei had demanded for all of his students to solve the problem because this tsumego was the cause Shirakawa-san lost to Sasaki-pro from Touya Meijin's group.

"But… Waya… this is a game from Kisei League, and if Shirakawa-san get stuck in this I don't think…" Isumi trailed off and paused when he realized a new shadow over the magnetic goban.

Waya and Isumi blinked owlishly when they saw the blond foreigner was staring at the tsumego, his bright green eyes narrowed at the tsumego.

Waya in a moment of morbid curiosity said, never mind the blond understand him or not. "Do you want to solve it?"

The blond beamed at them then using a Japanese fan he pulled out from his sleeve -that was also when they noticed the sleeve of his shirt was almost as wide as furisode's- he pointed at three particular spot. As if hypnotized Waya picked two black stones and a white one, then placed the stones to the pointed coordinate.

"Au revoir." The blond said as he bid them a good bye with a cheerful wave.

Waya and Isumi stared at the magnetic goban. "Ah, it solved." Waya declared lamely.

As one the two top inseis turned to the lift the blond just entered but it was already closed. "Ah… who the hell is that guy?"

* * *

Later that day Isumi and Waya found out the mysterious blond guy was a model from Zunon magazine, featured wearing modern looking traditional Japanese clothing line from a small brand that was on the rise lately from Nase and Minami.

"How the hell a model could solve such a difficult tsumego?" Waya wondered out loud.

Iijima frowned, "Why is he here in the first place?" He pointed out instead.

"Saa~" Nase shrugged, "Maybe he is registering for pro exam?"

"Nah~" Honda snorted, "A model in pro exam? What the chance of that happening?"

* * *

**Ki'in Building , 1st floor **

"Akira!" Hikaru beamed, his mood improved greatly after solving that interesting tsumego.

The Meijin's heir thought Hikaru would look grumpy but he looked cheerful for some reason, "Why do you look so happy?" Lately Hikaru had been grumpy of the prospect of being known as a model instead of a go player. Not that Hikaru would accept any modelling offer anytime soon.

"There is this tsumego… " Hikaru began his story about the two inseis and the tsumego.

Akira hummed at that, "Hm… I know that tsumego, I think our study group discussed that last night. It's a game between Sasaki-san and Shirakawa-7dan."

"Is that so?" Hikaru titled his head to the side.

"Sasaki-san won though… Shirakawa-san's formation died because he got stuck on that tsumego and lost by resignation." Akira said, recalling the discussion. "Your board reading skill is as exceptional as ever."

Hikaru shrugged, "Actually… I ever ran to similar tsumego before when my teacher played against L.L from China, he is a top amateur player of China… as he has represent his country for world amateur tournament three times in a row."

Akira hummed at that, "I see…" He nodded thoughtfully, "Maybe I should play Net-Go too…"

"Just so you know, you can't play me online if you are going to use your real name as your nick." Hikaru warned him.

Akira blushed at that, "Well I… if Ogata-san saw me playing and I use false name and inform my father…"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "To be honest… I think almost all pro online use their real name as their nick, except Kuwabara Honinbou…"

The Meijin's son stopped on his track at that, "Heh?"

"Then again it's pretty obvious, his playing style and nick 'Honinbou4Ever' he used…" Hikaru mused.

"Honinbou4Ever?" Akira echoed incredulously.

Hikaru nodded, "That… and his game against _The Seiji_ is a pretty heated one in history of Net-Go."

"Ah…"

Hikaru sighed, "Let's don't talk about that guy… I can feel my mood plummeting fast."

Akira sweat-dropped, "Hikaru… then let's talk about prelim next week."

The long haired boy smiled at that, "I think we will see the insei I met just now… well, unless they're all top inseis."

The dark haired boy snorted, "In prelim only insei in rank below top eight would be there…"

"You can't say they wouldn't be good opponents just because of rank." Hikaru murmured in amused voice.

"If there is anyone… the top pros won't be fussing about the drop of insei's level, and anyone close in our level would attract attention…" That was how Ogata-san crushed his hope last year when he asked whether anyone in insei could match him. If there was anyone who could match Akira, they would attract attention like a beacon, said Ogata-san back then.

"But I don't…" Hikaru said as they began to walk towards the exit but stopped when they almost ran towards a familiar hunched figure of veteran player known as Kuwabara Honinbou.

Normally Akira and Hikaru would bow in respect to the Honinbou title holder but they were pinned by his intense gaze. "Uhm… Kuwabara-sensei?" Akira began hesitantly, not sure how he should react with the Honinbou openly staring at his best friend.

Hikaru in the other hand swore the Honinbou was not staring at him, but Sai. Or to be exact his gaze flickered back and forth between Hikaru, Sai and the last one was Akira.

"I see…" The old man beamed, "So." He looked at Hikaru, "You're walking on the path to find the hand of God?"

Hikaru blinked owlishly and answered, "Yes."

"You're going to reach it with Touya junior?" He glanced at Akira with a grin.

"Yes." Hikaru answered honestly, because what else he could say.

"Are you going to coming after my title on the way?"

"Ye…" Hikaru stopped himself, "Uhm, what?"

Kuwabara rubbed his chin. "Good eyes, I like you." He grinned, "What's your name?" He glanced at Akira, "And you're Touya… Touya what?"

"Touya Akira." The Meijin's son answered firmly. "And…" He nudged Hikaru.

"Shindou… Hikaru." The blond boy answered.

Kuwabara Honinbou walked pass them and said, "I will remember both of you, and Shindou… I will keep an eye on you especially." And with that the honinbou entered the lift and out of their sight.

Akira eyed his friend who was still in shock after the encounter with the oldest title holder. "Well… I told you, once you're out in open you're going to attract attention."

"I can live without it!" He moaned. "Why he want to keep an eye on me anyway? He never saw me play!"

Akira smiled at him, "Your watcher list is growing."

"I have enough of that online, offline watchers are creepy!"

"Hikaru, my father is included in that list." Akira reminded his friend.

"Well I am honored but… "

"But what?"

"You don't understand!"

"Excuse me? I have been in constant watch of pro world since I was six!"

"I bet they didn't say it on your face like just now!"

"But still!"

"Akira…" Hikaru rubbed his temple, "Don't start the shouting match here please…"

"You started it!" Akira huffed.

Hikaru was not impressed. "You do realize whenever we said that line neither of us remember who did it?"

Akira opened his mouth to retort then decided not to. "Okay… so the prelim."

"Win three games out of five sounds simple." Simple didn't mean easy, just not complicated in Hikaru's book.

"Don't you dare to play shidougo no matter how weak your opponent is." Akira warned him.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Hai…"

* * *

**I feel this chapter is getting off course... but whatever we get to the juicy prelim part and that's the important thing... I KNOW you guys wanted to see prelim and exam already but we need to get here because I want to include Mitani, we can't forget the adorable guy LOL **

**AND MORE SAI!**

**Poor Seiji LOL in the future I will settle the debt ^^ one way or another. **

**And perhaps I need to rewrite Honinbou's disciple third chapter... I feel very off with that one DX any suggestion? Perhaps I will think up an original plot to write a fem Hikaru fic, why? for the heck of it and personal satisfaction... ha ha ha **

**BTW Hikaru in this fic can speak three languages, as Sai is from Heian and a Go prodigy he can speak Chinese.. so yeah Hikaru is proficient in Chinese, French, and Japanese. Hikaru's first language in this fic is French, I take this background from VB rose by Banri Hidaka. Hikaru is more fluent in French before he enter kindergarten because he used to be very close to his grandmother and more or less forced to learn Japanese... So yeah, Hikaru is not good at multiple language because he is a genius, it's more like circumstances made him. **

Please review and look forward for the prelim exam chap ^^ More Waya LOL


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Meeting the Insei**

Hikaru developed an unreasonable hate to his blond hair lately, or rather it was the old hate resurfacing. Then again he didn't see it as good enough reason to go through the pain of dyeing his hair again, and risking cancer for the second time just to look more Japanese. So on the day of prelim exam Hikaru tucked his hair inside a black cap.

His best friend's comment to that, "You look ridiculous, your hair is fine as it is."

"I will keep this on until the game begins." Hikaru insisted.

Akira rolled his eyes, "Hikaru… you spent half of your life with jock looking hair and you don't care, but now you're bothered by your _natural_ hair color."

"I don't really get it myself either." Hikaru admitted honestly.

The Meijin's son eyed his best friend exasperatedly, "Oh well… keep the cap on until the game begin, whatever… if it help you. I am sure you will find the cap bothersome by the next day."

"I think so too." Hikaru agreed. "I think I will not care by tomorrow at all."

Akira rubbed his temple, "Hikaru, sometimes the way your mind works drives people insane… and I wonder why it made sense in my head while it shouldn't." He said as he grabbed Hikaru's hand to alight at the train station that was the closest to the Ki'in.

"Peoples are staring." Hikaru said pointedly at their joined hand.

"I'd rather risk a little shame over losing you on the crowd, the last time that happened I spent one hour looking for you." Akira said with a huff. "Why you can read the board so well but direction is beyond you, I don't get it."

Hikaru grumbled, but not making any effort to release his hand from Akira's. "I can find my way as long as I have a good map in hand."

"I am not convinced by someone who got lost in thirty feet corridor on his way to chemistry lab." Akira shot back.

Hikaru flushed red, "That just one time!"

"Who keep saying about picking place for shouting?" Akira asked mischievously.

The blond boy groaned, "Fine, arimasen!"

"Thank you for the game." Akira returned smugly, first win against Hikaru in the morning was always a good sign.

* * *

**Ki'in **

Apparently the prelim was where you were randomly matched up against other participants, get a number and you get to play five games and get three win to qualify for the real exam. Very simple, unless he got to play Akira now and raised a commotion. Akira would be happy to have an official match regardless of what resulted from their game. However it seemed they won't get the chance in prelim and Hikaru resisted his urge to whack his best friend upside the head for pouting. They would play an official game in the real exam anyway because it was a round robin style exam.

Akira went to take his seat across a boy who looked younger than they were and Hikaru could see the boy already had defeated look on his face. An insei who quickly resigned to his inevitable lost the moment he saw Akira's name next to his?

Hikaru shook his head, the exam just started and Akira's first opponent already resigned before the game even began. At the time like this he didn't envy Akira's fame at all.

Nase looked at the name next to hers, 'Shindou Hikaru' he was an outsider, but she had no idea it was a boy or a girl as Hikaru was an uni-sex name. Then someone appeared in front of her and gracefully sat down in seiza. Her jaw dropped when the young teen took off his cap and a shoulder length blond hair spilled out, green eyes gazed at hers resolutely.

"Nigiri." His voice snapped her out of her shock and she quickly placed her guess, two black stones.

A handful of white stones spilled on the goban, eight stones, so she won black. Never mind who her opponent was, don't be distracted!

She won black; she was good at playing black! It was a good sign. She thought as she made her first move, claiming upper left hoshi.

Pachi

And her opponent responded with claiming a komoku

Pachi!

* * *

**Break Period **

The boy stopped the clock after his brilliant move that cut her shape when Shinoda-sensei announced it was time to take a break. Nase stared at the board in shock. She was losing badly, and she was pretty sure she should have resigned already. It was damn obvious she was outclassed so badly by that boy. She still had some hands to play but she had never ever won with coming from behind, not even once.

She eyed the clock somberly, she had used more than half of her allotted time, and there was no way in hell she could survive playing her hands in seconds against him. "Haaah…" She clamped her mouth shut, how could she let out such a sigh in front of her opponent out loud?!

Thankfully when she looked up, her opponent was already walking out of the room.

She didn't know she had to be relieved of disappointed. She avoided going out of the room soon in fear of running to him, because there was no way she could face his opponent without a goban separating them. Especially when she recalled that on Minami's urging she tried asking for an autograph from that pretty boy.

That was so embarrassing! Minami-chan! Nase was seriously going to have a talk with her after this!

* * *

**Resting Room **

Waya was feeling the worse of deprivation from Sai's and Kou's game. It was silly addiction, but any online players… majority of them were addicted by the same thing. Maybe it was something like teenage boy addiction to shonen manga. It was like how when your weekly favorite series turned to monthly series. Their games were not simply amazing and exciting to watch, but inspirational to Waya. They were online player's muse, so to speak.

The source of his frustration was simply because it was scary to think with their continuous absence, they'd lose Sai and Kou. It was not something new for good players losing interest and MIA from online community, but since Net-Go was launched they had never lost those two. Net-Go would never be the same without them.

"Aah…" Waya shook his head, _'Sai and Kou shouldn't be on my mind now! Focus on our exam instead!' _His eyes began to wander around the room, and he couldn't help but amused by the antic of his fellow examinees. There was this one guy, who was in danger of permanent wrinkle on his forehead. A discussion over a tsumego book. A stupid looking guy deep in thought, eyes closed, pacing back and forth, and Waya thought he was in danger of tripping over something like that.

Fuku looked pretty tired, which was odd because the little guy usually was full of energy. Nase had wandered next to Fukui, looked equally exhausted. What was wrong with them?

Waya sighed, _'I should be worried too, no, I should stay calm just like…' _

His eyes wandered again and landed on a boy wearing v neck teal shirt. The boy looked calm and serene as reading Touya Meijin's tsumego book. '_There's one guy that's all calm… eh?' _

Waya's eyes widened and before he could stop himself he said the name out loud. "Touya Akira?"

The boy looked up from his book and confirmed Waya's suspicion. "Yes?"

In instance everyone in the room had their eyes on Touya Akira, and the prodigy didn't even bat an eye when he became the sole target of their attention. They were so caught up in shock by their first face to face encounter with the famed prodigy to the point no one really noticed when someone entered the room. However their attention was broken when Touya Akira let out a yelp when a cold can of green tea touched his cheek.

That was when their attention was drawn towards the stranger who had intrude Touya Akira's personal space with ease, sitting in seiza close enough to have their shoulders almost touching and startling the Meijin's son with cold can on the cheek, a classic harmless prank.

"Hikaru!" Touya Akira hissed, mortification painted in his body language. "What was that for?"

"I really want to try that." Came the nonchalant and innocent answer. "You should look at your face, Akira."

Waya's eyes widened the size of dinner plate for the second time, and he shouted louder than when he recognized the Meijin's son. "AAH! You're that French guy!" He shouted and pointed an accusing finger at the blond boy who was equally unperturbed as Touya Akira. "And you speak Japanese!"

Nase who sat beside Fuku sputtered, "Japanese…"

"Oh." The French guy's eyes lighted up in recognition, "You guys are the Insei I met in Ki'in before." He said in a tone way too calm after shocking them out of their wits.

Nase blushed a deep red and tried to make herself as small as possible. Waya was a little sorry for her but it was her fault to give in to Minami's whim. What kind of self-respecting insei going to karaoke with pro exam looming in horizon instead of a study group anyway?

Touya Akira raised an amused eyebrow at his friend. "Hikaru, you're pulling the clueless French boy act to avoid giving signature again?"

"Uh huh… I just don't like doing that kind of thing, you know that modeling business I did as a favor for a friend." Then he glanced at Waya who looked like a deer on headlight and his gaze swept over murmuring examinees. "Come to think of it, what's with the ruckus? Akira?"

Touya Akira shrugged, he said as he accepted the opened can of green tea his friend passed him. "No clue."

Akira? Hikaru? These two were calling each other by first name…

"Oh! My apologies for my abrupt leave from before…" He was so damn polite but Waya could hear he was indeed sorry. "And also for what I did that time…" He said glancing at Nase who was failing at hiding herself behind Fukui. "I just felt really awkward… I am not an idol or anything so I pretend to be unable to understand Japanese…"

Nase stuttered, "Never mind! My friend pushed me to do it! You know… it's just… well! Teenager's whim!"

Waya stared at her incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about Nase?"

"Ha ha ha ha! No sweat!" She laughed it off. "So what's your name?" She asked enthusiastically to hide her embarrassment, "I am Nase!" Waya could see that Nase had all intention to bury her first meeting with the blond under a rock.

He smiled at her and Waya swore she was melting. "I am Shindou Hikaru…" Then he glanced at his friend. "And this is Touya, but I guess all of you know him." He glanced at Touya Akira with amused look, and then he said in teasing tone. "Aren't you popular, Akira…"

Touya Akira _rolled_ his eyes in respond to that jab much to Waya's shock, "Like you're one to talk, Hikaru."

Shindou laughed softly before he turned his attention to them, "Nice to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you too." Touya Akira added, equally polite and proper.

Waya grunted, "Waya Yoshitaka… Insei."

"I am Fukui Yuuta, but everyone calls me Fuku." The youngest boy said, "I know it's Touya-kun, he he… "

Waya eyed his younger insei comrade skeptically, "How do you know?" Touya Akira appeared a couple of times in Go magazine but always in smaller photo next to his father. He knew the guy with guessing from Morishita-sensei's rough description. He was famous in Go community but not a lot of people knew his face.

"He is my opponent today." Fuku informed him, "I don't stand a chance." He said sheepishly.

Waya gave him a painful headlock, and the younger boy yelped. "You're an insei! Have some pride! Aspiring pro shouldn't sound so weak!"

"But!" Fuku protested weakly.

"Oi Waya! Leave poor Fuku alone!" Nase pulled Waya off of the young boy with slit eyes.

"Are you three insei?" Touya Akira inquired suddenly.

Fuku nodded after Waya was off of him. "Uhm! This is my first try, it's Waya's third and Nase's second time taking the exam. Right?"

Understandably Waya didn't appreciate Fuku informing people that he had failed twice. "Don't 'right' me!"

Hikaru eyed the three insei, unexpectedly they were a pretty merry bunch. Fuku was especially cheery, he was resigned to lose against Akira but he didn't sound _that _sad or frustrated of his inevitable lose. He was young but he was a gracious loser. Then again perhaps because of his age he was not that desperate to win the exam.

"I am totally going to lose, aah~ A loss on the first match!" He whined to himself.

Hikaru has seen their goban in passing and indeed the chance Fuku to win was none unless Akira made a huge mistake. Akira wouldn't do that so his loss was almost a foregone conclusion, but this kid whined about it right on the face of his opponent? Then again he didn't know how insei rolled on their class.

Nase joined in, "Me too." She looked at Hikaru with a sigh, "You're really strong! I should have resigned ages ago… aah…" Resigning on the right time was a mark of skilled player, only idiots keep playing losing game in Go. It was not about quick to give up, but the correct decision making skill and respect for your opponent's skill.

"Not you too Nase! You two! Come from behind against these two! The game is not over yet!" Waya urged them on.

Hikaru and Akira blinked at Waya's bluntness, _'I get it he wants to cheer his friends up, but he seriously ignoring that we're in the same room? Or he doesn't care?' _Hikaru also could easily notice Waya Yoshitaka had instant dislike of him and Akira, almost hostile even.

Nase glared at him. "Easy for you to say!"

"Why you're so irritated today, Waya-kun?" Fuku pointed out, "Did something happen?"

Waya was caught off guard at that, but of course he couldn't admit out loud that his idols going MIA was affecting his mood. "None of your business." He glanced at the two prodigies, eyeing them skeptically, the blond one especially. "I never heard of you before… Shindou Hikaru."

Nase was not a top insei but she was good enough to be in the first class. Nase complained a lot, it was one thing to complain that she was in a pinch but she was complaining that she should have resigned even before lunch. If even before lunch Nase had lost, this guy was a real deal.

Hikaru blinked at that, "Uhm… I never join any tournament before so…"

Never?! So he had no tournament record at all? And yet he was strong enough to beat an insei?

His eyes turned to Touya Akira, _'Come to think of it, this guy has no tournament record either…' _This was why Waya disliked Touya Akira. Whatever one-sided rivalry Morishita-sensei had going with Touya-Meijin aside. He didn't like how everyone hailed Touya Akira as the best of their generation while the guy didn't test himself against his peers to earn that acknowledgement.

"You're so strong though!" Nase exclaimed, "And you're not even an insei."

Inwardly Waya added, _'The guy beside him is not an insei either, but Touya is someone we expect but this Shindou guy…' _He rubbed his chin, _'He and Touya are in first name basis but… isn't Touya the Meijin's son according to Morishita-sensei, eat and breathe Go? How the hell this Shindou guy is never heard off before? Perhaps they are not as close as they look, if someone this strong hanging around Touya he would have been noticed long ago.' _

"Akira, eat."

Shindou's voice snapped Waya out of his thought.

Touya Akira was giving pained look at three small rice balls, and very delicious looking one at that which wrapped in bamboo leaf with radish pickle on the side. Shindou had the same menu for his lunch and he was eating it daintily.

"But…"

Shindou Hikaru gave the Touya Akira a stern look, "Akira… you don't want to east square meal between your game, it's not much but filling enough. So eat."

Then the two boys locked in a staring match, which ended when Shindou narrowed his eyes at Touya and the lunch. Touya sighed exasperatedly before he began eating his lunch quietly.

_'Is he your friend, or your mother?!' _

Their lunch was short and quick due to the small amount. Then they quickly excuse themselves politely to return to the game room.

* * *

The game resumed shortly after they left and Waya could see Nase and Fuku were resigned to go to the game room only to say '_arimasen'_ to those two prodigies. It was downright depressing but Waya had the opportunity to see a glimpse of Fuku's board and winced at the sight. Touya was merciless, he cornered Fuku and cut all available escape routes. Maybe he shouldn't talk about making a comeback because he was sure he can't do that if he was in Fuku's shoes.

Nase's board was on the other side of the room so he couldn't see it but he doubted Nase was in better condition. True to Nase's words, she resigned quickly. Waya saw her bowing as she declared her resignation to Shindou around five minutes after the game restarted. A moment later Fuku followed her example. However strangely fifteen minutes later and Waya won his game by three and half moku, Nase was still in the room. He also saw Shindou left after excusing himself to Nase.

Waya walked toward her and asked, "I thought you resigned ages ago?"

Nase grinned, "We discussed the game…" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "It seems Shindou-kun feels bad for blowing me off before so he stayed to discuss the game with me."

Waya frowned at that, "Nase… sorry to say this but he wiped the floor with you." What to discuss in a game she was outclassed so badly? It was all the matter of difference in skill.

She flushed red at that, "Yeah… but he gives really good advices! Like you see here… he told me I shouldn't rush to protect my stones here, when I should try to gain control on the corner instead. I also make mistake in this simple life and death problem…"

The brunette blinked at her, "True… you lost the ko fight on the bottom right and you persist on it." He murmured then added, "And the life and death situation is not simple." Then again this was the guy who took less than a minute to solve a high dan level tsumego.

Waya turned to Fuku who since who knows when was sitting beside Nase. "Where's Touya?"

Fuku grinned sheepishly, "He left."

Waya harrumphed, "Well… at least his friend is not a jerk."

"Eh… Waya-kun, from where you draw a conclusion that Touya-kun is like that?" Fuku asked.

"Well… for one he just left and didn't give you any advice at all." Waya said pointedly.

Fuku quirked an eyebrow at him, "Waya-kun… this is an exam, normally you don't give your opponent advice like Shindou-kun did." He reminded the older insei. "And Touya-kun did give me some advice, he said I am rushing confrontation with responding to his every moves without thinking it thoroughly first."

"That's it?" Waya scowled.

"Yeah, Shinoda-sensei told me the same thing over and over again but I just like speed Go." Fuku grumbled.

Waya harrumphed, "There, his advice is not helpful if Shinoda-sensei said so too."

"It's not helpful because Fuku are not listening." Nase corrected. "And it's partly your fault! It's you, who keeps losing against him even though you're ranked higher."

"How is it my fault?!" Waya groaned indignantly as they walked out of the room together.

Surprisingly when they were in front of the building they saw Touya and Shindou were still there, standing beside the gate. However they didn't expect to see the two were talking with Ogata 9-dan of all peoples.

"It seems I was worried for nothing." Ogata-pro said, smirking at the two prodigies.

Shindou looked amused, "Thank for your concern, Ogata-pro."

The 9-dan took a deep inhale of his cigarette and said, "I ran to Kuwabara-Honinbou yesterday, and he said he is keeping an eye on you… Shindou." Then he glanced at Touya. "So are you, Akira-kun."

"Kuwabara-sensei did say something along that line." Touya murmured.

"So to what we owe this visit, Ogata-pro?" Shindou queried with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

The pro smirked, "Well… he and I strike a little bet, about the top placer of this pro exam. I put my bet on Akira-kun, and Kuwabara-sensei put his on Shindou."

The three insei froze on their spot as room temperature plummeted.

"We have not even passed the prelim yet." Shindou Hikaru said pointedly.

Ogata pro rolled his eyes, "Aren't we all know that there is only one professional spot left to compete for this year?"

"Ogata-san!" Touya Akira hissed. That was when Touya Akira noticed their presence and said. "Ogata-san, we shouldn't hold that kind conversation here."

At last the pro player deigned to acknowledge the insei's presence with a fleeting glance, shrugging and then he said. "I will give you both a ride home."

"No, thank you." Shindou Hikaru replied promptly.

"I insist."

"Ogata-san, I don't think it's a good idea." Touya murmured to his senior.

Then suddenly a red beetle car arrived in front of them, and a red haired teen waved his hand at Shindou and Touya. "Yo! Hikaru-kun! Touya-kun! I come to pick you up~"

Shindou smiled at the older teen, "Natsuya-san!" Then he beamed at Ogata-pro. "As you see Ogata-pro, we regretfully have to refuse your kind offer…" He said as bowing politely to the pro player. Then faster than you can say Go, Shindou dragged Touya inside the passenger seat of the car. The guy who drive the car eyed Ogata-pro warily and quickly drive his car away.

The insei watched the pro scowling at the retreating car helplessly and held their breath when the pro walked pass them with deep frown marring his handsome face. Once the top pro was out of sight and hearing range they let out their breath and wondered what the hell they just saw.

* * *

Shindou and Touya ended up passing prelim round in a flash, in fact those two managed to finish their opponents off before lunch and went home without talking to anyone. Actually Shindou did greet them if he ran to them in the hallways; Touya was always around and following his friend's greeting with his arrogant formality. Waya and his friends didn't get to interact much with the two, as they were always locked in deep conversation and leaving no room for intrusion. Then again the only time those two were seen outside of the game was before the game began as they always came half an hour early.

Waya caught Shindou shooting his apologetic look sometimes; it seemed the guy feel bad for what Ogata-pro said. Touya obviously didn't care as he barely spare them a glance, in fact Waya was sure all that polite greeting won't be given if Shindou didn't start first. So Waya decided that Shindou was an okay guy at least, and Touya was still the arrogant bastard he thought the Meijin's son to be. Well, Touya did prove he got impressive skill to back out all the hype everyone in Ki'in ranting on about him , but he was still an annoying guy.

"And that's what I think." Waya concluded when he came on the fourth day of prelim, he had lost once against a skilled outsider named Tsujioka on second day. It was one awful defeat because he fell on that bait and lost by three and half moku. The fact that guy lost before lunch to Touya Akira on the next day made that loss tasted even bitterer.

Nase, Iijima, and Fukui stared at him unblinkingly. "Are you sure it's not your patriotic side to Morishita School talking?" Iijima murmured.

"No." Waya rolled his eyes. "Beside… have you heard the reason Touya Akira never joined any amateur competition? Someone asked him and he said… all other kid would stop trying if he were to play."

Fuku sighed, "Since I have play him, I don't think he is boasting Waya-kun… more like stating a fact."

"Fuku!" Waya growled, "Saying weak things like that! And you want to be a pro?! If we Insei stay idle and give up, Ogata-sensei's word will become a reality!"

Iijiwa snorted, "Perhaps Ogata-sensei is right, this year there is only one pro spot left for us to compete."

"Oi!"

"If you want to convince me otherwise, tell me about this Touya Akira's friend… Shindou right?" Iijima queried, "What kind of player he is?" He didn't get to see the guy at all as he had lunch outside on the first day and the next two days the two prodigies finished their game so quickly. He had seen them in passing though, but not long enough to get a good look of them.

Waya paused at that, while Nase and Fuku looked thoughtful. "Hm…" Nase murmured, "He played a calm and steady game, but he is very tricky… I felt like I got tripped over and over again." Nase murmured. "Then when I looked at the board as a whole I have been surrounded, and I didn't even notice I should have resigned ages ago…" She whined sadly. "The only reason the game continued after lunch was because I didn't notice I have lost."

"And here I thought you can be proud of yourself to be able to fight the guy longer than other people." Iijima sweat-dropped.

Nase huffed, "Well! I was nervous and I couldn't concentrate!"

"Eh? Why?"

Fuku chirped at that, "Shindou-kun is a really pretty boy, he has blond hair and light green eyes… they are natural and he is also a model."

Iijima glared at Nase, "Oi! You're distracted because of his looks?!"

"Not like that! Remember about that French guy Minami and I met in Ki'in? It's him! I was so embarrassed about that! I can't even look at him in the eye!" She huffed angrily. "It's so not his look I get distracted by! Beside! Even though he is cute, he is thirteen!"

Waya eyed her warily, "You saw Touya too, don't tell me you think he is cute too."

Nase rolled her eyes, "Waya… I wasn't distracted by looks, but since you ask let me enlighten you… on scale from one to ten I will give Touya-kun and Shindou-kun at least nine." Then she pointed at him, "You, I will think hard and long to even give you six… with your attitude I will give you four."

"Oi!"

Nase sighed, "But back to the game… Shindou-kun's Go is… uhm really beautiful." She murmured.

"Eh?"

She rubbed the back of her head, "I don't really know how to describe it but… he plays the most beautiful Go I have ever seen."

Waya and Iijiwa eyed her skeptically, "Beautiful… you're talking about his Go or his face?"

Nase was ticked, "His GO! Damn it! I am not interested in boys younger than me! No matter how cute they are!" Nase shouted to the world to hear. Inwardly she admitted she liked looking at them at least.

* * *

**Few days later… **

They were having tea on Akira's favorite cake shop, as few days ago was Hikaru's turn. Hikaru himself was pretty fond of their cheese cake. Today's weather was good so they chose to sit under a parasol outside the cake shop. They were wearing their school uniform because today Hikaru had to arrange classic club matter with Fubuki-sensei in school. Akira tagged along and they had to wear uniform in school ground, holiday or not.

"You're unhappy." Akira said as he pricked the strawberry pie on his the plate apart, "Ogata-san's bet with Kuwabara-sensei upset you so?"

Hikaru snorted, "How about you?"

He sighed at that, "Ogata-san has a long standing grudge against Kuwabara-sensei, go figures he will drag us to his little feud."

"Is it because the title match he had against Kuwabara-honinbou?" Hikaru murmured as he stirred his cold milk earl grey tea. "That game… it reek of nervousness, fear, doubt… with a game like that fresh on his mind I don't think Ogata-san will succeed to push Kuwabara-sensei off of his Honinbou throne anytime soon."

Akira paused at that. "You think so? It seems this year Ogata-san will challenge Kuwabara-sensei again for his title."

"Don't tell him I said that." Hikaru hissed, "Even if you tell him, it's not going to help as… by now if it's mind game… Kuwabara-sensei has planted a seed in Ogata-san's mind. I think Ogata-san notice that too, he is not stupid."

"Even if he knows…" Akira echoed.

Hikaru finished chewing his food and continued. "Knowing and getting over it aren't the same…" Hikaru murmured.

Of all peoples, Hikaru knew that the best. Akira in the other hand was still naïve. He was surrounded by pro players since he was young, but it seemed Akira still didn't get mind games. Then again because he knew them since he was young, he had a hard time understanding the need of mind game in Go. Hikaru himself knew this because his tutor never deluded him that all game would be just fun and fairness. Sai had learned that lesson the hard way, and he had no wish for Hikaru to repeat his mistake.

When they decided to join pro world, Hikaru was not worried for himself but for Akira. He was the son of Touya Meijin, and with that status he had a heavy burden called expectation. Touya Meijin was a respected man, but someone who hold four titles was not without enemy who envied him.

Hikaru had mentioned about people playing mind game to win to Akira, but knowing and experience it first hand was different. Then again Akira was a fast learner and… sooner or later his friend would be no longer innocent child eager to play Go against strong opponent. He would grow up jaded, and it had to happen.

Hikaru himself was already jaded because of what happened to him in the past. At least… he would be by Akira's side when it happened to Akira.

"Ne, Hikaru… isn't that…"

Hikaru perked up at that and followed Akira's gaze towards Go salon across the cake shop. "Ah."

* * *

**Go Salon **

Pachi!

"Makemashita." The opponent declared.

Waya cheered, "3-0 wins with three stones handicap!"

Waya and his insei friends, Isumi and Honda were on the roll with their Go salon challenges. The Inseis had been depressed when Nase and her big mouth spilled about Ogata-9dan's prediction of there was only one professional spot left for them to compete. Of all of them Isumi and Honda seemed to be the ones disturbed the most by the news. Waya understood though as Isumi was already seventeen, and in spite of his status as top insei he had failed twice like Waya. Honda felt the same although he had one more extra year compared to Isumi. Although in Isumi's case it was worse because of his bad habit of lost streak because he took his loss harder than most people.

"We're doing good." Isumi murmured with a smile on his lips.

The old man in his fifties, Isumi's opponent grinned at the younger players. "Inseis are really good, I hope I will see your faces in Weekly Go in few months so I can brag… I helped this kid training for his pro exam!"

Isumi laughed sheepishly at that, "If I pass the exam…" He murmured.

"But you guys are so good already, surely you can pass." He retorted.

Waya winced, "Eh…"

Isumi chukled, "Well… there are stronger players in pro exam." Like Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru his friend Waya couldn't shut up about for the last few days.

The youngest insei of the group groaned, "Come on Isumi-san! Just because Ogata-9dan said that doesn't mean our chance…" He trailed off in horror when he saw the two boys dressed in Kaio uniform standing beside their tables since who knows when. "Ah…" He had never thought that old saying call their name and the devil shall appear was true. "Shindou, Touya…" Shindou looked uneasy while Touya was as stoic as ever, and the two undoubtedly heard everything in spite of their different reaction.

"Konichiwa." Shindou greeted them followed by Touya as usual. "I hope we didn't disturb your game or anything." He was being polite for sure because the game had ended and Waya saw no reason for them to feel disturbed aside from overhearing what he said.

"Konichiwa." Waya was surprised to hear Isumi was returning the greeting, "Shindou-kun and Touya-kun right? I have heard of you from my friends." He introduced himself. "I am Isumi Shinichiro, Insei…"

Honda followed his example, but in Honda's case Waya was sure the older boy just didn't want to look rude in comparison. "I am Honda Toshiyuki, Insei…"

Shindou and Touya turned his attention to Isumi and then to Honda as if gauging them. "I am Shindou Hikaru, nice to meet you… Isumi-san, Honda-san."

"I am Touya Akira, pleased to meet you too." Touya followed.

One of the old men of Go salon stood up abruptly, "Touya Akira?! Touya Meijin's son?"

Great! Another fan drooling over Touya's pedigree. Waya rolled his eyes openly, not caring whether the Meijin's son saw him. Waya was not sure Touya saw his eye roll but judging from the smile on Shindou's face, it seemed the guy saw and he was amused.

"Would you like to play a game with us?" Isumi offered much to Waya's shock.

"Isumi-san?!" Isumi shot him a look, and Waya understood why Isumi offered a game.

Shindou and Touya's eyes glanced at each other and Waya realized they were in that silent conversation thinggie again. He had caught them doing this pretty often in short three days knowing the two. Then Shindou broke their eye contact and answered, as usual he answered for both of them. "We would love to…"

One of the salon patrons rubbed his chin, "But there are two of you and three of them…"

Waya tensed when he noticed Shindou was eyeing him and Honda then to Isumi. Waya didn't understand the guy, and how he could be friends with Touya in the first place was the biggest mystery but… Waya had a strange feeling the guy was reading them.

Shindou then turned to his friend, "Ne, Akira…" Shindou began with that fond smile, "Why don't you go play first, I will watch."

Waya didn't miss the way Isumi's eyes widened a little when he heard Shindou addressing Touya by his given name. They didn't know how Touya looked like until few days ago but they knew he was always around adult, and Touya Meijin was the typical strick parent from his looks alone. The son of Touya Meijin was not someone who let anyone addressed him so casually unless he was really close with them.

"If you say so." Touya replied as he took his seat across Isumi.

It was then Waya realized that Shindou noticed neither he nor Honda wanted to play, just Isumi. He blushed at the realization. _'So embarrassing!' _Waya fidgeted, wishing there was a way to distract himself from the embarrassment. Isumi and Touya were still busy cleaning the board by the mean time.

"Eeh… " He swallowed, "Is that Kaio's summer uniform?" He just noticed they weren't wearing casual clothes. "Both of you go to Kaio?" Man! That was annoying, they even went to the most prestigious middle school in Tokyo! Which mean they weren't just good in Go but also academic as well! "It's summer holiday so why you guys wear uniform?"

Shindou nodded, "Yes… Akira and I are in the same class, and we wear uniform today because we just returned from school because of some business I have to work on with my teacher. We're not allowed to wear casual clothes in school premise even if it's holiday…"

Isumi and Honda couldn't help but thought, _'Waya is right… Shindou is the friendlier of the two, Touya in the other hand… he didn't speak a word.' _

"Nigiri?"

He spoke, but to begin a game. Isumi thought as he grabbed a fistful of stone and started counting. Eight, and Touya guessed odd numbers so he won black. "Your guidance please."

"Your guidance please." Touya returned with a bow.

Isumi began with claiming upper left komoku and Touya followed with star point.

Pachi

Pachi

Ten hands later Hikaru was sure he and Akira already had a good estimation of how good Isumi was. The older boy played solid hands, no weakness to exploit either. He was good enough to be a pro, Hikaru concluded. He must be one of top inseis, stronger than Waya and Honda for sure. He saw the game of the other two, they were good but Isumi was better.

Pachi

Pachi

But something was off, Hikaru couldn't help but felt that way from Isumi's Go. But they didn't even reach chuuban so Hikaru decided he shouldn't be hasty to take conclusion. It could be just his presumption because of Ogata pro's words stirring uneasy feeling on Insei group.

Akira was doing well, and he was enjoying the game. The game was already not even though by now, in spite of Isumi's well played strategy Akira was in higher level. At the current state usually it would be enough to defend to protect his lead, but Akira was not most player and being the fierce player he was… Akira was retaliating Isumi's attack with fiercer one, cutting shapes mercilessly.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The game was reaching the chuuban and Hikaru still couldn't shake the feeling he got from Isumi's Go off. Then Isumi started to get slower, thinking long and hard for his move. Has this match using clock, Isumi would have been in byoyomi by now.

Akira was getting impatient as Isumi was getting slower.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

The game paused again as Isumi was thinking of his next move. Akira was leading but Isumi still have a chance. However…

Pachi!

His latest hand… there was no mistake, this person… he… He reeked of fear and insecurity. _'This game…' _

"Akira." He called his friend's name loud and clear and dropped the bomb he didn't want to drop but it was a must. "Sorry but, you should stop."

The Insei eyed him in shock while Akira was surprised by the request and silently demanding an explanation, his friend nodded and undoubtedly was waiting for an explanation for later. "Very well."

"EH?!" Waya predictably was the one who regained his composure and started shouting. "Oi! What's your problem Shindou, why you stop the game? And Touya, you…"

"We can continue some other time." Akira offered in genial tone. "If Hikaru say we should stop, he has good reason to do so."

Waya hollered, "What's the reason?"

Hikaru pondered his options and decided, "I can't say now… but I won't mind telling Isumi-san after he play us in pro exam."

Akira finished gathering his white stones, pouring the handful of stones back to the container. "Thank you for the game, I am looking forward to play you in exam."

Isumi stood up, "Wait… please tell me why you stop the game! Shindou-kun… tell me!"

Akira stood from his seat. "Isumi-san…"

Hikaru sighed, "I am sorry Isumi-san, don't let this disturb you… just forget it until we play. It's for your own good." He murmured apologetically. "Let's go Akira." He said, tapping Akira's shoulder.

The two prodigies left abruptly after hastily excusing themselves, and the Inseis were shocked by their action. However it didn't take long for Waya to regain his composure and he dragged Honda and Isumi to chase the two. Fortunately for the Insei group, the street was not crowded so they easily spotted the two Kaio students. They were about to go down the train station when the Insei caught up with them. Waya sprinted towards them and blocked their way to the stairs.

"Wait a sec damn it! You can't just go off without giving Isumi-san an explanation after stopping the game abruptly like that!" Waya shouted at them.

Hikaru didn't expect Waya was this bold to chase them. "Waya-san… I'd rather not explain myself to Isumi-san now, we still have an exam ahead of us… I will just trouble him if I explain." He tried.

Akira narrowed his eyes at Isumi then at his friend. "Can we not argue about this in public?" He queried. "And Waya-san… We're sorry for the game but I don't think…"

Waya growled, "Isumi-san has not lose against you Touya! So I think he deserve an explanation from Shindou for stopping the game! I heard from Nase he is good at reading ahead but I am sure as hell Isumi-san's chance is not zero! And if it is, he shouldn't stop the game out of pity either."

Hikaru groaned, he suggested the game to break the ice. He knew Waya had something against Akira for who knows why. Then again it was Akira and Hikaru lost count of how many people was offended by his presence alone. Akira had this unexplainable natural disposition to draw hostility.

"Hikaru." Akira called him. "Pity is the last thing on your mind when it comes to Go."

He rolled his eyes inwardly. "Of course… no Waya-san, I didn't ask Akira to stop the game because I pity Isumi-san. My reason have nothing to do with pity."

Waya was about to open his mouth to retort but Isumi was faster to speak. "Please tell me! Is there something wrong with my Go?!"

"Isumi-san!"

Hikaru sighed exasperatedly, it seemed they won't leave him and Akira alone unless he spilled the bean. "Isumi-san… you're a strong player, above average… and I am sure you will be one of toughest opponents we will face in the exam." Hikaru said honestly.

"Then!"

The blond boy ran his deft fingers through his hair in frustrated manner, "I really don't think it's wise for you to hear the rest… just forget it."

Isumi surprised them when he walked towards Hikaru and gave the young boy a fierce glare, "No! Tell me Shindou-kun!" Isumi didn't know what possessed him but he had a feeling he was about to face the answer of why he kept failing the exam. "I need to hear it."

"I would tell you after the exam, could you wait?" Hikaru was almost pleading.

Akira groaned, "Isumi-san, don't force us… if Hikaru said…"

"I will decide what's good for myself!" Isumi refuted sternly.

Now Hikaru was sure the game was a bad idea, he should follow Akira's suggestion to ignore the insei and go home instead. But no, he wanted to talk with them.

"Hikaru…" Akira murmured.

Hikaru sighed loudly and said, "Fine… Isumi-san, let me ask you something."

Waya was about to retort that Hikaru should answer the question not asking back. "Why… "

"Do you have a habit of slipping to losing streak?"

No one answered that question but the Insei's silence spoke louder than words.

And Shindou continued, "I am well aware of the effect of Ogata-pro's careless words… and when Isumi-san offered to play us I thought he is not affected by it but… " He trailed off, "This supposed to be a friendly game… harmless, but Isumi-san… if the game continue I am not sure it would be a harmless game to your chance for pro exam."

"I…"

"I am not sure of Isumi-san's play style at first so I don't want to draw a hasty conclusion but Akira…" He glanced at his friend. "I know Akira's play style very well… and yet when cornered by fierce offensive player like Akira you played too carefully and it shows…"

"I played too carefully?" Isumi echoed in shock.

"It's my personal opinion but… _you can't be too careful_ doesn't apply in Go." Hikaru murmured with a sigh, "You will miss opportunities and played a tame game… Isumi-san… you're _scared_ of us. That's why I stopped the game… if Akira won that game…" Which he was likely would, but Hikaru chose to not say it. "You're the top Insei, aren't you? Can you say that your loss would be without repercussion to your fellow insei? A mere lose in friendly game would be harmless… but from the way you play… you're nervous, cautious, fear… "

"What do you know…" Waya began, increasingly nervous because what Hikaru said became increasingly creepy to his ears.

Akira cut him off, "You can tell about a person a lot just from how they plays." Not as much as Hikaru could though. "And I agree… you were playing too tamely against someone like me. My playing style is aggressive and you back down almost in every single conflict on the board." This person had the same problem as Kishimoto, perhaps an even more chronic case.

Waya gaped at them, "That's…"

"I…" Isumi stuttered weakly.

"I am really sorry Isumi-san, Waya-san, Honda-san." Hikaru murmured as he and Akira walked pass frozen Waya. "You asked…"

Akira sighed exasperatedly, "We're looking forward to play you in pro exam next month, may the best players win."

And with that the two prodigies left the scene, leaving the three insei deep in thought.

* * *

**Train station **

"This time, you're the one who found trouble." Akira murmured as they stepped inside the train.

Hikaru groaned as he followed Akira, "I know! But in my defense… how could I know Isumi-san is that type of player?!"

He snorted, "If he failed the exam you shouldn't feel guilty, with us competing… there's no way he can escape loss at least twice." Akira knew Isumi's strength well now, the older boy was good but they were better. "With that kind of mindset he couldn't become a pro." Akira stated confidently, " He is better off not passing at his current state."

Hikaru grimaced, "True… too bad, he is such a good player too."

"You won't go easy on him regardless…" Akira murmured. "You're right though, what a shame… but just like you, it's something he should get over on his own."

The blond smiled at that, "Hm… who knows, perhaps he will surprise us next month."

"I am not going to count on that."

"Akira… don't be a pessimist."

"I am being realistic." He corrected.

* * *

**For once Hikaru walked on that one instead of Akira LOL **

**I imagined countless scenario of how Hikaru and Akira met the Inseis and... settled on this one. So yeah, they are not the most liked peoples by Insei now for sure. Waya's dislike on Akira in the first glance looks unreasonable and purely based on his jealousy, but if you see extra episode and Akira's attitude that invite MISUNDERSTANDING a lot it's no wonder. Seriously... Hikaru in canon is an annoying normal teenage boy but he is in general well liked and Akira... he is like hostility magnet. **

**Sorry that I didn't jump on the exam right away as if you recall correctly, the preparation arc is long... and beside... what's the chance of Hikaru and Akira not bulldozing the exam anyway? So I need to make up extra plot to keep it interesting. ^^ **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Resolution**

Shindou Hikaru was an endless enigma, and normally Akira would have been driven insane because of his curious nature. Akira hated unsolved mystery but somehow when it was Hikaru, ignoring the unsolved riddle was a cheap price for their friendship and rivalry. Beside he had seen how crazy people could get about Sai and Kou's game and Hikaru was right about he was happier _and_ safer ignorant. Ogata-san of all people was the most dangerous. Akira didn't really get what going through the 9-dan player's mind when it came to Sai and Kou, it as if here was an unfinished business with them. With Hikaru he got it, but Sai? It as if playing Hikaru's master was on the same level as his ultimate goal to beat Kuwabara-sensei.

Speaking of Kuwabara-sensei, Akira wondered what possessed Ogata-san to strike that stupid bet. Akira admitted since he saw how Ogata-san acted around Kou (Hikaru) he realized he didn't know Ogata-san as well as he thought. Ogata-san was a pleasant person most of the time, albeit he was so confident to the point of arrogance and too competitive sometimes. However Akira started to see an almost twisted competitive streak in him when Kou and Sai were involved, and it scared Akira.

Especially when Ogata-san boldly approached them in Ki'in after the first day of prelim, and dared to nonchalantly spoke one line that shook Insei's confidence to the core. It was unfortunate Waya Yoshitaka and his friends weren't a wise lot, perhaps they wanted to warn their fellow Insei but it did more harm than good. Isumi Shinichirou was a prime example they came across, a good player who was intimidated so badly to the point he played too cautiously and less than his best. Akira was sure he would be a better opponent if he could get a hold of his emotion.

In short the harm was done and Akira started to understand why Hikaru avoid Ogata-san like a plague. So he didn't understand why a few days after their disastrous run with the Insei, Hikaru decided to accept the long standing invitation to his father's study session.

"You stays at my house almost as much as at your own house, and I never step a foot at yours." Hikaru said pointedly, "Wasn't that what you told me few months ago?"

Yep, he did but didn't they decide it was asking for trouble? Few months ago the idea was appealing but not with Ogata-san involved. "But Ogata-san…"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "I will deal with him."

Akira didn't dare to ask what Hikaru meant with dealing with Ogata-san. "No bodily harm involved, I hope?" Ogata-san was an adult but Akira knew he was not exactly fit, a smoker, almost in his thirties and spent most of his time taking care of his fish and playing Go. Heiji-san who taught Hikaru aikido was confident when he said Hikaru could take a middle sized man. Akira hoped that proud statement from Heiji-san wouldn't be tested against Ogata-san.

"As long as he doesn't invade my personal space…" Hikaru promised.

"No open hostility?" Akira added.

Hikaru nodded, "Not from my side, and I will do my best to be civil."

That covered most of his worries, Akira supposed.

* * *

**Touya Residence **

His mother was a perfect wife and mother, and a perfectly normal woman. At least until the news that his best friend was coming to visit their house was announced.

"Shindou-kun is coming! My! Why didn't you inform me sooner Akira-san?" His mother gushed as she handed him his bowl of rice. "And when? Will he stay over? He should as you stayed over his house every week! What should I cook? What his favorite food?"

Akira opened his mouth but he had lost track of his mother's chattering.

"Akiko." The Meijin interrupted. "One by one… you confuse our son."

His mother blushed, "This is the first time Akira-san brings a friend to our house! I am so excited!"

Akira felt he was not supposed to feel offended because that was the truth, and Ashiwara-san who was the closest person to a friend he had before Hikaru apparently didn't count as a friend in his mother's book and a study session was not a visit.

"He is coming for study session tomorrow."

His mother looked like she was struck by thunder at the announcement. "But I… I have an appointment until afternoon tomorrow!"

The next study session was one of rare morning sessions for Meijin's study group, while usually it was at night.

"Okaa-san." Akira tried to sooth his mother, "It's not going to be the last time for Hikaru to visit our house, I promise I will invite him again after the pro exam is over."

His mother seemed to like the idea, "Of course! And perhaps one of these days we should come to visit the Shindous! I mean… you have stayed over his house pretty often since winter! We should have greeted them properly…"

"Eeh…"

"Beside… come to think of it, they feed you when you stay over! I should cook something for lunch tomorrow before I leave the house!"

It was official, his mother was enjoying Hikaru's visit more than Akira himself. Then again since they became friends Akira hardly away from Hikaru, so the idea of Hikaru coming to his house was not really novel anymore. He was almost practically living in Hikaru's house with how much time he spent there anyway.

"Akiko, we have made order for lunch delivery tomorrow from Gosyen tomorrow." His father interrupted his mother, "And you are leaving very early tomorrow morning, you don't have time to cook lunch."

Akira quickly promised his somber mother that he will invite Hikaru to stay over very soon, even before pro exam began. It seemed his mother had gotten it to her head to give Hikaru the so called mother's cooking.

**The next day… **

Sometimes Hkaru regretted the day Akira found out about his direction challenged mind, because frankly at the rate they were going Akira wouldn't let him wandering anywhere outside of his house without supervision. He was also sure normally a friend didn't pick you from your house up to go to his house in fear you will get lost.

Ani-ue was not helping as he also voiced the same concern as Akira. Their biggest concern once he became pro? It was the possibility of him getting stranded in foreign place since pro often had a match outside of their region. Hikaru could imagine Akira talking to Ki'in staff about keeping him to job inside Tokyo area for as long as possible.

'It's a valid concern." Sai-aniue said with a grin.

"At this rate Akira won't let me going anywhere on my own without chaperone." Hikaru grumbled as he tied his hair.

_'_Hikaru… he blinked and you were gone when you two went to that Go convention. You even called him one hour later and asked '_Where am I' _to him.' Sai reminded his brother.

"Well! That just one time!" Hikaru flushed red at the reminder of his idiocy.

"You also lost on your way to Chemistry lab once. It's a thirty feet long corridor as Akira-kun said, and yet you got lost…" Sai reminded him. He groaned, lately his aniue took a sadistic pleasure in taking Akira's side all the time.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "A good thing aniue will be with me for the rest of my life, I give up on map!"

Sai tensed a little at that, _'Always… if only I can promise you that…' _

"Aniue?"

"Hikaru!" Heihachi's voice called out. "Akira-kun is here!"

Hikaru rushed out of the room, almost forgetting his bag in his haste. "Coming!" He replied his grandfather, _'Let's go, aniue.'_

_'Hai~' _Sai replied cheerfully as he trudging along.

* * *

**On the way to Touya's residence**

"The Net-go is still on riot lately because of our absence." Hikaru said with a chuckle.

Akira laughed softly at that, "Speaking of Net-Go, I did some searching for your online kifu…"

Hikaru blinked in confusion, "You could just ask for it directly from me."

"I know… I just did it out of curiosity since online Go community is so into you and your teacher." Akira said with a smile. "I also curious of how much they know about you."

"Oh…" Which meant Akira found out about _that_ it seemed.

"I was surprised to find that compared to Sai-san's kifu, yours are scarce." Akira said with thoughtful face, "You also didn't play as much as your teacher from your records and majority of it are private game." Then he added, "Your play style sometimes also pretty random… I didn't see you play like when you play father and Sai-sensei a lot either…" Not enough for people to see it as a standard Joseki for Kou, in fact it was hard to pinpoint Kou's play style aside from his mix of old and modern joseki, and the Shusaku's influence.

Hikaru nodded, "Well… I started few months after my sensei did and that time was the peak of his popularity… so a lot of players thought I was imitating him, so it takes a while for me to gain reputation and I like to play experimentally online and still do. The joseki I used to play your father and my teacher is one I reserved to play against players that much stronger than I am… it's pretty useless against player around my skill level and below."

Akira recalled about the first games they had and how he skillfully dodged Hikaru's trap, simply because he didn't see it. "I see…"

"Beside…" Hikaru sighed exasperatedly. "I get private game challenge a lot because high level players are curious of me but they didn't want to get outclassed badly by a kid broadcasted online."

"So Ogata-san…"

"A private game too." He rolled his eyes. "So no worries about me recognized as Kou, Ogata-san recognized me because of the joseki I used against Touya-sensei is exactly like one I used on him. I am sure people can still notice distinct mix of old and modern joseki in my Go and Shusaku influence… but don't worry."

Akira shot his friend an amused look, "You will just bluff them again…" He shook his head, "For someone who spent most of his life as a shut in, I wondered how you get to be so good at fooling people."

Hikaru sent a discreet glance at his master who was hovering around his left shoulder. "I have a good teacher."

_'Shindou Hikaru! I didn't teach you how to lie!' _Sai shrieked in horror.

_'No, you did not but I have to be good at this because aniue is my biggest secret.' _Hikaru said, smirking inwardly.

* * *

**Touya Residence **

Ashiwara was the first student who arrived to the study session and Touya Kouyou regretted informing his youngest student about Shindou-kun. He always knew Ashiwara was eternally a child in heart, but now his young student was fidgeting on his seat at the prospect of meeting Akira's friend and rival. Thank God Akiko was not in the house. He hoped Shindou-kun would come more often so the novelty of his visit would wear off soon.

He felt sorry for Akira that everyone made a big deal of his very first friend.

"Ashiwara." Sasaki called his junior. "Calm down, I am sure you can make Akira-kun's friend feel welcome."

Ashiwara grinned giddily, "Uhm! So, are we having a welcome party for Akira's friend?"

"No." Okita, his other older student said. "You will scare the boy."

It seemed there was a misunderstanding that Akira's friend was a shy and introvert boy. Apparently they were under impression Shindou-kun was another Akira, a shyer one. At the first glance you would think Shindou-kun shared a lot of Akira's character but from constant stories Akira shared that was not the case. Shindou-kun had great love and dedication for Go, and socially awkward when interacting with his peers like Akira, but the resemblance stopped there.

Shindou Hikaru had mischievous side Akira didn't possess, which was shown in his Go. The child in spite of his age was a walking enigma with magnetic quality that drew people to him, Akira, Ogata, Kuwabara-sensei and Kouyou himself. Akira was more mature than children his age, Shindou-kun was not just more mature. According to Akira, he had seen his friend sometime looked so old, as if he had lived for a very long time.

"Tadaima." Soft voice of Akira echoed from the hallway.

Ashiwara looked like he was going to leap from his seat when he heard Akira's voice.

Then the door slid open to reveal Akira, and Shindou-kun stood on his left. Shindou-kun was still wearing the odd combination of modern and traditional clothing like one he wore when Kouyou met him for the first time. Kouyou asked once why the boy wore such a unique choice of clothes, and Akira mumbling something about raided wardrobe and how Hikaru didn't care of what he wore. Thankfully no one commented Shindou-kun's sense of fashion.

However Kouyou also noted the last time he saw the boy, he was not fully blond. Kouyou chose to not ask as he was sure it was the least of his concern.

"Ohayou." Akira greeted, "Everyone, this is Shindou Hikaru… he is also taking the pro exam with me this year."

Shindou-kun gave them a graceful bow, "I am Shindou Hikaru, thank you for the invitation…"

Kouyou smiled at the boy, "It's been a while Shindou-kun."

"It is, I am looking forward for your guidance… Touya-sensei." He gave them a genial smile, "From everyone too."

Ashiwara stood up and approached the blond boy, "I am Ashiwara Hiroyuki! So you're Akira's best friend." Akira flushed a brilliant red at that. "Nice to meet you too, Shindou-kun!"

"Nice to meet you too, Ashiwara-san." Hikaru returned.

The rest of the study group quickly introduced himself to Shindou-kun, and Kouyou could see they already put 'as polite as Akira' on their first impression of Shindou Hikaru-kun. Kouyou wondered when they would notice Shindou-kun was very different from Akira.

After pleasantries were exchanged the study session began even though missed a member. Ashiwara asked about Ogata and Sasaki informed them that Ogata had to buy a new filter for his aquarium this morning. His student found it broke when he woke up and rush to get a replacement before his pet died. Ogata was very dedicated in everything he did, including taking care of his fish.

When the discussion began Kouyou was mildly disappointed that while Shindou-kun displayed good insight as expected, he didn't voice even a peep of detailed emotional analysis Kouyou heard so much from Akira. It seemed the young player deemed it was not something he wanted to show to anyone in fear he would be seen as abnormal. Kouyou couldn't blame the boy, as he had to admit it would normally disturbing to know someone could read so deep into you from your Go alone.

The discussion was over and Ashiwara opened his mouth, "Ne, Shindou-kun would you like to play…"

TING TONG~

"That must be Ogata-kun." Kouyou guessed.

Akira was about to stand up to get the door but Sasaki was faster, "I will open the door for him." He offered before disappeared to the hallway.

Kouyou saw Akira tensed and he guessed that was because his son was not sure how Ogata would react to Shindou-kun's presence. Shindou-kun himself was unperturbed, and he was patting Akira on the back as if it was his son who needed the comfort. It didn't take long for Sasaki to return to the study room with Ogata in tow.

"Shindou?" Ogata breathed out in shock.

Shindou-kun beamed at his student, "Konichiwa, Ogata-san!" He greeted Ogata too cheerfully for someone who had brushed his student so coldly when they met before.

And then Kouyou realized it was game time, what a time for Ogata to arrive.

"So you know Ogata-san?" Ashiwara chimed in, "At any rate now we have even number of people, Shindou-kun! Play me please!"

Ogata was visibly annoyed at Ashiwara for so casually asked a game from Shindou-kun, "Excuse me, I think I want to smoke first…" He murmured as he turned around, his back facing them.

"I would love to Ashiwara-san." Shindou-kun replied with a smile, "But I would like to ask Ogata-san first."

"EH?"

Ogata stopped on his track.

"Would you like to play a game with me, Ogata-san?" Shindou offered.

Ogata didn't answer right away and Kouyou could see he was having difficulty to process the boy who avoided him like a plague was offering the game he wanted so casually now.

Ashiwara beamed at Shindou-kun, "If Ogata-san don't want the game, can I play you first?" He said as he sat in front of a spare goban enthusiastically.

"Well… if Ogata-san is not interested I guess Ashi…" Shindou-kun trailed off but he didn't manage to finish it because Ashiwara was dragged out of his seat by irate Ogata.

Kouyou and the rest of his study group never imagined to see Ogata almost bodily throw Ashiwara out of his seat to claim the spot. "He asked me first, Ashiwara." He hissed, "Nigiri."

"An even game?!" Okita almost squeaked.

Ogata ignored them as Shindou-kun placed one black stone on the goban. "Thirteen." Ogata counted.

Akira was glaring at his friend and Ashiwara inched away from his son, "Akira-kun?"

Shindou-kun was beaming at Akira in respond, and Akira opened his mouth to say something. Kouyou thought it was more like he was going to shout. Shindou-kun craned his neck to their direction, silently reminding Akira that they had audience. His son clamped his mouth shut, fuming silently. Shindou-kun snorted and Akira sighed exasperatedly. It seemed there was an inside joke somewhere in their silent conversation, and as spectators they had no clue.

Nevertheless, it was amusing how they could communicate with each other by looks alone.

"Your guidance please." Ogata said, a little louder than necessary to remind Shindou-kun they had a game so please quit eye-talking Akira.

Shindou-kun tore his attention from Akira and bowed, "Your guidance please."

Ogata claimed the star point in upper right confidently.

Pachi!

His young opponent claimed a komoku.

Pachi

Ogata was quick to claim another corner.

Pachi

And the next hands were played quickly by Ogata and Shindou-kun followed in calmer pace.

His other students were baffled by the flow of Ogata's hands, as he was openly showing how impatient he was to begin a battle and against a child no less. The child he was playing against however was so calm and composed in his play. It was confusing to see who was the pro or the adult here, looking at the pace Ogata played.

Ogata didn't waste his time to start a battle in the corner, much to his students' amazement and disbelief. It was clear that Ogata was not holding back at all, he was playing for real to win the game against a boy half his age.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

What was more surprising was the fact that Shindou-kun looked as calm as ever even though he had a 9-dan player out for his blood. He didn't even bat an eye when Ogata boldly played a hand that would cut his shape mercilessly. The boy took a little longer than usual to respond, his eyes narrowed before he placed a correct respond.

Pachi!

'_He responded correctly as well as a high dan player…' _Kouyou thought with a smile. _'No wonder Akira improved so quickly, this boy was a perfect catalysis for Akira…' _

Ogata smirked, fully enjoyed the game against the opponent that had haunted him for so long.

Pachi!

The game soon reached chuuban, and the audiences forgot this was a game between an amateur and a pro player. Ashiwara was sweating as he watched the game, Sasaki was tugging his collar nervously, and Okita didn't fare better. Akira was as focused as ever and perhaps his familiarity with Shindou-kun was the source of that calmness.

Pachi

Then Shindou-kun instead of responding to Ogata's move was fiddling with his fan, opening the fan a little as his eyes narrowed. He closed it with a snap and set the fan aside. Kouyou bet no one but Akira noticed Shindou-kun was holding a Japanese fan since the game began. When Shindou-kun inhaled deeply neither Kouyou nor his son could suppress excitement that bubbling on their stomach. The boy was planning something unconventional and unpredictable.

He exhaled, eyes closed and when he opened it his eyes as if took a lighter shade of green to the point they gave illusion of glimmering like feline's eyes. Ogata looked taken back for a moment at the change of demeanor before he composed himself.

Pachi!

As expected, Shindou-kun didn't do anything halfway when he claimed a spot right below tengen. It was not the best move, nor the strongest. Normally it was a bad move because Shindou-kun wasted a hand to move to unclaimed territory when a heated battle was going on in the corner. His students at this point were so tempted to let out a gasp but couldn't in fear they would disturb the two players.

They were expecting Ogata to exploit that weak move, but instead of killing white formation on the corner Ogata was sweating profusely as staring at Shindou-kun's latest hand.

Ashiwara shot him a questioning look, which Kouyou ignored in favor to read ahead. Ogata undoubtedly was doing the same, desperately trying to spot what would spring on him because of that hand. It took Ogata pretty long, slightly longer than Kouyou needed to find that subtle trap that hidden around forty hands ahead.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

Ogata disabled the trap in five hands, and Shindou-kun didn't even bat an eye or even scrambling to remake another strategy like he did months ago against Kouyou.

Pachi

This time Shindou-kun placed a stone deep in Ogata's territory, another seemingly bad move.

Once again Ogata didn't dare to move recklessly and tried to predict where the trap laid this time. Ogata's lead against Shindou-kun was miniscule, around three to four moku and considering how lethal Shindou-kun's trap was that lead won't last long if Ogata trip even once.

Pachi

There was nothing special in Ogata's move, just strengthening his defense, and Shindou-kun followed with equally ordinary hand. The boy still had focused look on his face but there was no fierceness on his face anymore, instead there was a thin smile on his lips. The smile unsettled Ogata even more than that fake bad hand, because Ogata felt he had trip on a trap already but didn't know it.

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

* * *

**Go salon **

It was another 3-0 win for them but Waya could tell Isumi was not really elated by it. Fuku was the one joining their Go salon challenge today, and Waya deemed Fuku was more fun than Honda to bring along. The geezer Fuku played was unhappy with playing speed Go though and insisted on playing slowly. In short Fuku and his opponent weren't agreeing with each other. It was hilarious to see the geezer accused Fuku wanting to rip his hand off with playing so fast, his old join was no good for playing like that and so on.

Isumi laughed half-heartedly and Waya cursed the two prodigies for the hundredth time since they run to those two last week. However he couldn't be angry at Shindou, because as much as he hated to admit it the younger boy was plainly telling Isumi the honest truth and felt bad for it to boot. He warned them that Isumi was better of ignorant, and Isumi insisted on knowing the reason the game was stopped.

"Woah! Another group of teenagers." Takao-san, the master of Go salon exclaimed when a group of students came inside his Go salon.

"How much?" A dark haired teen asked the master.

The master blinked and said, "Uhm… you're paying?"

"Of course." He sounded mildly offended that the master implied he and his friends were not going to pay.

"You guys aren't Insei like those three?"

"Insei?"

That was when Waya noticed the group of students was not ordinary group of students, they were from Kaio and wearing the same white and dark blue uniform Shindou and Touya wore. He also recognized the dark haired teen who was speaking to the master of Go salon.

"Ki… Kishimoto-san?" Waya stuttered in shock.

Isumi turned and was as shocked as Waya to see the familiar face. "Kishimoto-kun…"

Kishimoto adjusted his glasses and gave them a curt nod, "It's been a while, Waya-kun, Isumi-san…"

The long haired Kaio student beside him cocked an eyebrow, "You know them, Kishimoto?"

"Yes, Miwa. They are Insei I know when I was an Insei myself." Kishimoto informed his friend.

"Insei…" The brunette with shorter hair eyed them skeptically.

The lone girl in the group whistled, "Hm… Insei huh… are you guys in pro exam this year too?"

"Too?" Isumi echoed before realization dawned on him. "Oh."

She giggled at their expression because undoubtedly it was obvious whose faces popped up on their mind. "Really those two… then again I am surprised if they manage to not attract attention at all." She said as the Kaio group approached the Inseis.

"Hidaka." Kishimoto chastised her lightly.

"But aren't they just finished the prelim?" The prim looking brunette murmured.

"Tsuruga… Touya's pedigree alone is enough to attract attention, and I am sure people will notice a blond boy like Shindou attached to his hip." Hidaka quipped. "Seriously those two…"

Miwa snorted, "Hidaka… I thought you fancy Shindou, and yet you spend most of your time trying to get on his nerve and shidougo."

Waya goggled at the girl and noted Hidaka was a very beautiful girl with great figure for a junior high student. _'Well… go figures Shindou has girls pining for his attention.' _

"Miwa… I am not going after Shindou seriously, not until his hormone gets the best of him because now he has only Go on the head…" Hidaka informed Miwa flippantly, "Beside he is thirteen and he'd choose Touya over a girl since at that age his best friend is more important than a girl."

"Miwa, Hidaka… can you guys discuss your love life somewhere else?" Kishimoto reminded that they have audience.

Hidaka didn't look perturbed by the gaping Insei and Miwa just laughed at them.

"Uhm… Kishimoto-kun." Isumi called the ex-Insei nervously, "If you don't mind… I… want to ask about…"

Kishimoto snorted, "Shindou-san and Touya?

None of the Insei missed the different honorific Kishimoto used on the two, but it seemed to be something they ought not to ask.

"What did they do?" Kishimoto asked bluntly, straight to the point. "But I hope none of you doing anything that upset Touya…"

As one Isumi and Fuku looked at Waya. "Oi! Perhaps I haven't been the nicest guy to him but I am sure as hell didn't do anything to him! It's not like the guy even care of my existence to feel upset because of me!"

"Yeah, you just glared at him even though he was just asking if we were Insei." Fuku said with a huff. "From day one you're openly announce that you have problem with him even though he just met you."

Waya bristled, "He is an arrogant bastard! He pissed me off!"

"Uhm… Waya-kun, he hardly talked to you… " Fuku reminded the older boy.

"Well! He still annoys me… I mean he hardly spare us a glance… his greetings were damn stiff and he always waited for Shindou to say something first! Shindou is as polite as him, but Touya have this aura of arrogant formality! And as for you know _what_ Shindou at least visibly feels bad, Touya didn't care!" He listed on angrily.

Miwa, the long haired Kaio student chimed in. "Oi, are you telling me you think Shindou is the nicer of the two?"

"Yeah." Waya answered, "He is friendlier… he seems to be a nice guy, nicer than Touya at least."

Miwa and Hidaka burst to laughter, "Ha ha ha! Don't tell me you think Shindou is harmless and friendly pretty boy who got stuck with Touya or something?" Miwa held his stomach as a small tear formed on his eyes.

"Ha ha ha, my stomach… that's rich!" Hidaka giggled. "Shindou? Nicer than Touya?"

Even Kishimoto looked like he wanted to laugh but he settled on chuckling instead. "I guess in first impression everyone think so too…"

Miwa nodded, "Come to think of it the first time I saw Shindou, I thought he was just a nice and adorable junior too… but boy! It didn't take even a week for us to change our mind!" And by 'us' he meant Kaio's general population.

"What do you mean?!" Waya didn't like to be ignored.

"I mean…" Miwa trailed off, "You're right that in overall Shindou is an okay guy, but I warn you… drop your glaring at Touya and the whole idea that he is an arrogant brat… keep it to yourself at least. You hardly see them so you haven't slip to outright hostility yet at Touya…"

Hidaka nodded, "Well… I can't really blame you to be annoyed by Touya, he is just so clueless of his surrounding… especially when Shindou is around."

Kishimoto nodded, "For your own good, listen to Miwa… he rarely have anything good to say." He ignored Miwa's indignant cries. "But he just gave you a good advice when dealing with Touya and Shindou-san…"

Fuku raised his hand, "Sorry Kishimoto-san, but I don't understand what you're getting at."

Hidaka took a deep breath, "In short… Touya is a pretty harmless boy with penchant of annoying people because he is oblivious of his surrounding most of the time. Shindou in the other hand… "

Miwa continued, "He is as you said a nice guy, but he stops acting nice at a drop of a hat when you lay even one finger on Touya, "

"Huh?"

Miwa sighed loudly, "Well… you're more interested in their Go, I guess… but for your own good." His eyes glinted, "Please… please watch your behavior around Touya with Shindou around." He said in serious pleading tone.

Kishimoto eyed the Insei , they had this dumbfounded look on their face that won't go away anytime soon. "Well… it's just a friendly warning, aside from Waya-kun I don't think any of you would do anything reckless." He ignored Waya's indignant cry in favor of Isumi. "However… Isumi-san, you're especially curious about them. I am sure by now you know they're exceptional players… but I have a feeling it's not their strength you're curious about."

Isumi swallowed, "Can I speak to you… in private?"

Kishimoto glanced at his friends before he stood up. "Then, let's go to that empty table." He pointed at a secluded corner.

Isumi nodded and followed the Kaio student, leaving their friends watching their retreating back curiously. Isumi sat down and in spite of not really close to Kishimoto, he knew the younger boy well enough he had to be straight to the point if he wanted Kishimoto to indulge him with answers. "Well… few days ago I played Touya, but before we reached yose… Shindou asked Touya to stop playing." Kishimoto raised an eyebrow at that, "I was surprised he made Touya stop… but I was even more baffled by how Touya so readily dropped the game."

Kishimoto smiled at that, "Touya have strong trust in Shindou-san's judgment, and to be honest… Shindou is always confident in everything he did so it's hard to refuse him."

Isumi rubbed his sweaty palms. "Even so… we're curious and Waya was even more so, that's why we chased them and demanded an explanation." His frown deepened, "At first Shindou refused to give me an answer, because it's better for me to not know until I play them in pro exam but… I…"

"You insisted until Shindou gave in?" Kishimoto guessed.

Isumi looked embarrassed but managed a curt nod. "Hai."

"So, what did he say?" He queried, "I suspect it's something you didn't expect to hear."

"My habit to spiral to losing streak…" Isumi murmured. "You were in B league but I am sure you have heard of my bad habit."

Kishimoto adjusted his glasses and said, "Shindou-san guessed that from watching your play once?" He laughed softly at that, "He has sharp eyes… he guessed my problem from one game too."

Isumi's eyes widened at that, "You too?"

Kishimoto nodded, "I am not interested in enlighten you on my issue Isumi-san, but I am getting over it." He quipped, "But let me tell you one thing… you should have listened when Shindou-san said you better of not knowing but now you know… just get over it."

"Get over it?" Isumi echoed dubiously.

"Don't ask how… all I know it's something you should find out by yourself. However… Isumi-san, you're really reckless. You're going to battlefield worrying now…" Kishimoto shook his head, "I can't say you're better off ignorant that those two know you have an issue, but I can't say you have better winning chance either now…"

Isumi smiled at that, "Well… I will just try my best as usual."

Kishimoto swallowed the lump that formed on his throat, _'Unfortunately… you can't try your best with your state of mind. Unless you miraculously get over your issue in two weeks… and I know, there's no miracle for this.'_

* * *

**Touya's Residence**

They stared at the board long and hard as the game came to a conclusion, they expected the winner but they didn't expect the game to be so close.

"Five and half moku win." Ogata breathed out.

The game didn't reach seichi actually, as Shindou resigned halfway to yose. However the outcome was obvious when Ogata succeed to block the last trap. He tried to get a bigger lead but he knew it won't get bigger. In fact he was sure Shindou could decrease the gap even more if the game continued, but he won't be able to win. However it was still a feat for a boy who was not even a pro to get even on goban, and he the 9-dan pro won by komi gap alone.

However… the play style changed, Shindou was still using elaborate trap that made use of his reading ahead skill and mix of modern and archaic joseki but Ogata didn't feel like he was mauled in yose by endless rapid and suicidal attack he experienced in last game against Kou. He improved a lot from their last game, Shindou was learned to play more cautiously and calculative just like…

He glanced at Akira, and understood where the boy got better at calculation. It was not like Kou was careless, but he was such a high risk taker and almost suicidal.

"Hm…" However the boy didn't even look sad about his loss, just disappointed and a little sweaty from adrenaline rush.

Ogata was really tempted to smack the boy upside his head for such a mild reaction after playing such an intense game against a high level pro. Then again this was Kou, whose playing style meant to give high level player a fight of their lifetime.

Ashiwara, Sasaki and Okita looked like they were going to hyperventilate after witnessing the game.

"You played beautifully, Shindou-kun." Touya-sensei praised the boy.

"Thank you very much, Touya-sensei." The boy accepted the compliment graciously.

Strangely Akira was very quiet and still staring at the finished game, it was then Ogata noticed he was not just staring at the goban but at one particular spot. His eyes were so intense as if he was trying to burn the goban. Ogata followed his gaze, and recalled that was a standard respond Shindou made to his defensive move, which was not special at all comparing to about a dozen odd hands he made that confuse the hell out of Ogata.

"Ne, Hikaru." Akira at last opened his mouth, "Where were you expecting Ogata-san to move because of this?" He said pointing at 15-16 curiously.

Ogata decided he didn't like the way Shindou clamp his mouth shut in respond.

Akira stared at the board some more before he let out a breath, "Oh."

"Oh." Followed by his teacher of all people. "I see… Shindou-kun."

The boy had resigned look on his face as he realized the Touyas had seen it. "May I see the scenario you're expecting if Ogata-kun played the next hand in 9-10 instead?"

"Hai."

Ogata stayed rooted on his seat as he realized 9-10 was a better hand than his 8-15, and Shindou began to rearrange the game. The boy didn't say anything as he placed the stones according to his planned scenario and Ogata paled. It was a trap, even more elaborate and stealthier because the trigger looked conspicuous unlike the others that screamed invitation. He misread the board and saved himself by mistake, and had he fell in this trap he would have lost by… half a moku? A very narrow win for the boy but a win nonetheless.

What a terrifying child, Ogata knew that well since his first game against Kou but… Akira noticed the trap even before Touya-sensei did.

"Uwaaa… " Ashiwara shivered, "How many trap you laid out, Shindou-kun?" He asked curiously, "I think there was a dozen of it at least!"

Ogata swallowed and said, "Not a dozen, at least five… I fell on one of it but to disable the other four I wasted a lot of hands…" And then Ogata noticed Akira was staring at Shindou before he promptly averted his eyes. "And Akira… how many of traps you counted?"

Akira was not a good liar, in fact Ogata suspected placid boy like Akira never think of lying. "Uh… seven."

Shindou rolled his eyes and Ogata could imagine the boy was inwardly chastising his friend, _'Akira, you idiot.' _Then again Shindou already knew Akira was hopeless at lying even if it was to sooth someone's ego.

"I see…" Ogata suppressed the bitter feeling boiling on the pit of his stomach. "You're getting better at reading the board, Akira-kun."

Touya-sensei looked amused, "Indeed but more than that you're reading Shindou-kun better now… you two play each other almost every day after all…" He corrected.

Akira was getting better at reading the board, but he was better at reading Shindou's strategy.

Ashiwara was amazed. "Oh! So Akira-kun! You're winning against Shindou-kun pretty often then!"

Ogata wondered if the puppy of their study group realized he was implying Akira was better than Ogata at playing Shindou.

Akira unexpectedly looked like he was suppressing his urge to laugh, "Ashirawa-san… I can read Hikaru's strategy pretty well because I know him, but he also know me as well… but completely predicting him is impossible…"

Ogata adjusted his glasses, "Indeed, Shindou-kun is very creative… it seems with young player like him and Akira-kun entering pro world soon… We older generation can't stay idle either." He said in lighthearted manner while inside he was shivering at the prospect.

Ashiwara grinned, "Then! I should try harder to work on my game."

The Meijin nodded approvingly, "So we can expect you to move forward beyond second to third preliminary round soon?"

"Eh…" Ashiwara rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, recalling he was scheduled to face Shirakawa 7-dan to move on to Gosei league next week. "I will do my best."

"I believe that's what you said last month before you fell out of Kisei's prelim." Okita reminded Ashiwara.

* * *

** One hour later… **

They managed to play a couple of games and apparently it's been a while Akira played them too so the pros under the Meijin's tutelage were eager to see their strength. Ashiwara at last manage to score a game against Hikaru and he fared terribly. Ashiwara was a pretty skilled player however he was very careless and seemed to take pleasure in watching Hikaru's trap unveiled against him. Ashiwara-san really treated the game as a game. Akira looked a little put off he didn't get to play Hikaru, but then again they played each other in daily basis so it was fair to let other people to play Hikaru too.

They stopped playing when Ashiwara's stomach growled, voicing the need for sustenance. Right on time the bell rang, and the Meijin informed them it must be their lunch. Ogata and Ashiwara went to the door and gave the deliverer a generous tip for his wonderful sense of timing.

The lunch was a pretty subdued but warm affair as they fell to lighthearted but serious conversation about pro world and upcoming amateur tournaments.

"In short… Japan is still a laughing stock internationally." Ogata concluded. "Shimano did his best but he is just one person." He grumbled. "And there is a pretty strong amateur named Kadowaki but he is not going to International tournament next week."

Ashiwara beamed, "Shimano-san… it's been a while since I saw him."

"Ironically I heard we're the strongest online." Okita-san said innocently.

Hikaru pointedly ignored Ogata who was eyeing him mischievously.

Sasaki-san inhaled, "Speaking of international tournament next week… it would be a wonderful opportunity for Akira-kun and Shindou-kun to attend it." He suggested with a smile. "Meeting foreign players in such event would be a good experience."

Akira tensed on his seat as he recalled what his best friend refered the annual International Amateur Tournament as.

_"Instead of tournament, it's more like a __**fan meeting**__… everyone got rowdy over our identity. I didn't watch a thing in the end because it's too unnerving to see peoples so worked up about it." _

Ogata chimed in, "We will see Shimano in the tournament too." Then he gave Hikaru a mischievous smile. "Will I see you there, Shindou-kun?"

"Uhm!" Hikaru had the gall to beam at them as he said. "I am looking forward for it!"

Akira almost choked on his rice when Hikaru cheerfully announced he was going to that tournament willingly.

* * *

**_Next week_**

Waya went to the annual International Amateur Competition under Moroshita-sensei's order, as this year it was his master's turn to be the pro who host the event. His master was in for a surprise as this year everyone in Go forum agreed to stay longer to discuss their net idol, Sai and his decreasing appearance online.

Of course there were peoples who couldn't get it to their head, how it was Sai's right to stay anonymous. Waya was as curious as hell about Sai's and Kou's identity but he respected their privacy as long as they kept playing inspiringly awesome game online. Who cared of their identity offline? Waya thought it was novel idea for Sai and Kou to remain as mysterious top online players. Their muse, their king and their God!

"Hum! Hum!" Waya hummed as he played , Netherland's representative. "Sai's latest game against Ichiryuu Kisei is really amazing." He was one of few foreign players who could speak Japanese, so Waya really liked him. They were buddies online, and thanks for Sai he had a lot of international players as his online buddies.

sighed wistfully, "My students are curious of him and Kou… well… after a year I guess it's better for them to stay mysterious…"

"I think so too!" Waya said as he placed his stone. They were playing relaxing game after all, no pressure to win at all. "I mean… one of their charms is their mysterious identity!"

The staff of Ki'in who observed non-official games played on spare gobans they placed on the corner sighed exasperatedly. "At this rate… this International tournament is more like a fan meeting than a tournament."

"I didn't know how to use computer myself, but I can't believe so many players going crazy over their net-idol…"

"Actually… they come to Japan to compete or discussing their idol?" The staff wondered out loud.

His colleague shrugged, "The irony is… we should be thankful to these net-idols because there are more participants than our estimation. At least thirty percent increase than last year and these foreign players are coming to play in Japan because this idol of theirs is Japanese…"

"Truly, internet does weird things to your head." His old colleague mumbled.

Waya overheard them talking but he didn't care because he was having fun with peoples who shared his interest. Then he caught sight of certain white suits wearing pro coming to speak with Morishita-sensei and his mood soured a little. Whatever, it was not like _the_ Ogata Seiji cared about an Insei like him. That day couldn't get any worse, until he heard the dreaded name.

"Akira-kun."

"Touya-kun."

"Konichiwa, Ogata-san… Morishita-sensei." Then the Meijin's son noticed his presence, and his game was over too so of course the polite freak was obliged to acknowledge he existed. "Waya-san, how are you?"

Waya grunted. "Fine, thank you." He returned tonelessly then he noticed something off or rather someone was missing.

**"Where is Shindou?" **

Waya and Ogata-pro looked at each other in shock, as they just chorused the same question to Touya Akira. Waya flushed red while Ogata-pro just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hikaru?" Waya resisted his urge to roll at question mark on Touya's voice, and wondered if the Meijin's son realized it seemed odd to see him without his blond friend around. As in short time Waya knew the guy personally, Akira Touya was never seen without Shindou. "He is coming later… one of his grandfather's friend will drop him off here."

"Shindou?" Morishita-sensei echoed.

Touya smiled and said, "My friend who is also taking pro exam this year."

"And also Akira-kun's rival." Ogata-pro added, as if that was a vital information Morishita-sensei had to know.

Waya didn't like how Morishita-sensei eyeing him, _'Why didn't you tell me about this Shindou? And how come Touya-kun is not your rival instead?' _

Suddenly sound of something buzzing was heard and Touya quickly rummaged his pocket to retrieve a white cellphone. He flipped the phone open, reading the email he just received. "Excuse me, I need to go for a moment."

Ogata-pro raised an eyebrow at Touya. "Shindou? Surely he can come to the hall himself."

Touya shot the pro an amused look Waya couldn't understand, "This place is pretty crowded and big, he _might _get lost."

Waya frowned at that and tried to imagine Shindou, the mature and composed guy got lost. How Shindou could get lost here anyway? Waya was sure that from the drop off it's just a straight forty feet corridor to get here. However Touya was already gone and it took him a short while to return to the hall with Shindou in tow.

Waya noticed the guy was wearing the odd yet stylish looking clothes again, the one from that brand Nase said was getting famous. He didn't _really_ pay attention to Shindou's looks before, but now he noticed he had Japanese face and skin but his hair and eyes weren't. Yet with his mismatched looks he looked not out of place wearing modern Japanese clothes. In comparison to that… He eyed Touya's clothes that for once was not unstylish shirt geezer worn but definitely not in fashion either. How the hell this guy could be friend with a freaking model with that fashion sense?

"Pleased to meet you… Morishita-sensei, I am Shindou Hikaru." Shindou introduced himself to Morishita-sensei politely but unlike Touya there was no stiffness, but casual and fluid. Then he looked at Waya, his smile was a little strained but Waya was happier to see Shindou who at least felt something after their last encounter than Touya who looked as unperturbed as ever. Would it hurt Touya to learn to show some expression that was not his standard polite face, and then perhaps he would look more human.

"Hi, Waya-san… how do you do?" Shindou greeted him.

"Fine, thanks for asking." Waya didn't miss how Morishita-sensei and Ogata-pro were raising eyebrows at him, because it was obvious he was friendlier to Shindou than Touya.

To be fair Shindou was friendlier than Touya the ice prince, and he was returning the courtesy. Waya was well aware he could be a jealous ass sometimes and it annoyed him. So it was comforting that he was not civil with Touya not because he was envying the prodigy, if that was the case he would treat Shindou the same way. The fact he could act civil to Shindou was a proof he had problem with Touya's attitude and not his talent.

"There seems to be quite a crowd of people discussing kifus and replaying games." Touya's voice snapped him out of his musing, and Waya realized Touya was referring to his online buddies. They were discussing their idols of course and Waya was glad this year the Institute staff had insight to reserve a discussion area to avoid commotion like last year.

"Something about the game from last night…" Touya strained his ears, and Waya then noticed the closest group from their spot was Chinese players Li Lishin brought with him and representatives from Taiwan and Hong Kong. So Touya understand Chinese? He sounded unsure though.

Shindou unexpectedly chimed in, "Yes, the game of China's representative against a 3-dan pro from Korea. It seems it's quite a match as they said they are going to keep an eye on this young pro…"

"Shindou-kun, Touya-kun, you can understand Chinese?" Morishita sensei asked curiously.

Touya craned his neck to Morishita-sensei. "Hikaru can speak Chinese, I just started learning so only the basic conversation."

"You're a fast learner, don't worry!" Shindou assured his friend cheerfully. "I want to see the game, would they mind if we take a look?"

Waya grinned, "I know Li-san online, and we chatted pretty often." Both of them conversed with broken English though, but then again as long as they could get their point across it was not a problem. "And you can speak Chinese, it would be easier for him as his English is not good." He said before he waved his hand and called. "Li-san!"

Li Lishin turned and gave the Insei a curt nod. "_Hello, Waya-kun." _

Waya quickly introduced Shindou to the Chinese player and reluctantly he introduced Touya. Li Lishin was pleasantly surprised to hear Shindou greeting him in flawless Chinese, and the conversation got easier now that Shindou became their translator. The players around Li Lishin are all net players too and they were discussing Li Lishin's latest game.

The young Korean pro they were talking about was indeed an exceptional player, he was the same age as Waya and he was already a third dan in Korea. A steady, calm and yet fierce way of playing that belied his dan level, and he was steadily rising through pro rank.

/We're wondering if he is perhaps Kou…/ Taiwan's representative, Winnie Lou said as tapping her chin.

The Hong Kong representative, Wei Liu shrugged. /Who knows, but isn't Kou a Japanese? Although… Net Go listed country can be changed…/

Li Lishin shook his head, /It's true Ko Yongha have controlled fierceness in his Go like Kou, but he is no Kou the disciple of Sai… While their skill perhaps are roughly in the same level in my opinion, Ko Yongha lack the grace and beauty Kou inherited from his master/

"Kou? Ko Yongha?" Waya echoed.

Hikaru was amused but Akira who could understand most of the conversation was not. Hikaru craned his neck to Akira while the net players were absorbed to their conversation. _'It's fine.' _He whispered.

_'If you say so.' _He returned.

Waya turned to Hikaru and asked, "Translation please."

Hikaru laughed softly, "The young Korean Li-san played… they thought he is similar with a net player with nick Kou, but Li-san think they're not the same person."

"Why they think they are the same person? Kou is a Japanese…" Waya frowned.

"They shared the same kind of fierceness but controlled Go." Hikaru informed the Insei. "But Li-san argued that Ko Yongha lack the grace Kou possess." It was pretty embarrassing to translate compliment that meant for you, but he manage to say it in even voice. "Now they're wondering if there is any young pro in Japan that has the same play style as this Kou person."

Waya shook his head, "Tell them, I was way ahead… I checked but so far no pro below the age of twenty plays like Kou."

Hikaru translated that to Li Lishin and then back to Waya. "They're wondering if there is really no pro below twenty shows Go with Shuusaku's influence." Behind him Akira tensed again but thankfully no one really paid attention to his best friend.

Waya sighed at that. "Nah… Shuusaku is the greatest player of all time, so a lot of us study his Go but nothing obvious enough. Sai they were talking about is like modern Shuusaku, his disciple Kou… well student of modern Shuusaku."

"Hooo…"

"But you see… I am confident I can spot Sai once I see his play but Kou? I am not confident as even though his mix of old and modern joseki is a little different from his master… he likes to play experimentally online so it's hard to pinpoint him."

Hikaru nodded thoughtfully, "Hm…" Then he pointed at himself. "I am a Shuusaku's hard core fan myself!" He admitted cheerfully, and ignored how Akira was holding his elbow tightly out of shock. "Honinbou Shusaku is the greatest player in our history and for a Net player to be inspired for his play…"

* * *

Waya stared dumbfoudedly at the younger boy who started singing endless praises to the Honinbou. He knew Shuusaku was great but Shindou worshipped him like a God. Could it be? No, if he was Kou he won't tell Waya his hero worship of Shuusaku so openly. Nase did say that Shindou's Go had grace and beauty, and that was the most defining trait of Kou.

However… the thought Kou his idol was Touya Akira's best friend didn't sit well with him. Beside… Shindou was friendly and pretty chatty when the topic struck his interest it seemed, Kou… Kou had cold and silent image to his character because he vehemently refuse to speak to anyone. A lot of players disliked Kou though, because while Sai always played seriously online, Kou sometimes played experimentally. Most of the time he won but sometimes he lost the game because of his experiment. Waya thought those peoples were too sensitive because online Go in the first place was for fun and a good training place, so it was within Ko's right to play as he saw fit. It wasn't like Kou was going easy on them and handed the game on silver platter.

Although… that made him impossible to spot and… Waya eyed Shindou who was still busy singing about how wonderful Shuusaku-sensei was. He didn't ask Nase the detail of how Shindou played, but obviously this guy must have Shuusaku's influence in his Go and it would be bad if they suspected him as Kou.

/Do you play Net-Go?/

Waya didn't understand Chinese but he had an idea of what Li Lishin asked to Shindou.

"I made an account last month but so far I only have played five times." He said in Japanese for Waya then in Chinese for Li Lishin. "My nick is Tenrou5… but I am thinking of changing it soon because someone said I shouldn't be anonymous since I am taking the pro exam ha ha ha…"

Waya could tell the foreign players had one thought simultaneously, _'He couldn't be Kou… impossible... but Nase said he possess the same kind of elegance in his play like Kou. _

Winnie Lou who was checking net go with her laptop gasped in shock, /I can't believe this! Kou! Kou is playing now!/

"Eh?" Waya gasped. "He is?"

In their haste to get to see the screen, none of them noticed questioning look Touya Akira shot his frined or how the said friend was grinning as he held his index finger in front of his lips. "Shhh..."

* * *

Ogata who watched the whole ordeal shook his head, "What a terrifying child." It was a good thing he had resolved their difference for now, at least they acted civil with each other now. No more running away at least. And also...

_'You want a game with my master, don't you? How about you get your title first Ogata-pro?  
My master would be more than happy to have a game with you, think of this as a motivation..."_

"What?" Morishita asked the Meijin's student. "Did you say something about those kids?"

"Never mind Morishita-san…"

* * *

**The good news is... we will get to the real exam next week. ^^ **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Final Exam START!**

**Shindou's residence **

Sometimes Hikaru wondered why people could be fooled to think Akira was a composed person with quiet disposition. Then again they weren't Akira's best friend who in daily basis made Akira's tempershot up through the roof and screamed himself hoarse. Just like now, in which Akira acted totally like a drama queen, and as it's been a while since their last argument Hikaru said his opinion out loud.

"Drama queen? Who? Me?!" Akira hollered, and Hikaru wondered if his best friend realize his textbook was in danger from how hard Akira was jabbing his pen on it. "I am not the one who lied to the world today!"

Total drama queen, perhaps it was not a good idea to bait Akira as his friend was already hyperventilating.

Hikaru paused from writing down answer for their homework, it was almost done and before pro exam they had no homework left to worry about. "Well… I _didn't_ say I am _not_ Kou, I just mention I have another nick while not mentioning my infamous nick." Hikaru corrected with a grin. "Beside… Towa-san and Ojii-san are good actors, and those games played this morning were replay from kifus… it's _my _games as Kou... against Towa-san and Heiji-san."

* * *

_Flashback _

_/Kou! Kou is back!/ _

_/Seriously?!/ _

_/Sai is playing too! Open a new window!/ _

_Waya cheered, "Awesome! Anyone record it? There are a lot of people watching this game so we can expect a kifu uploaded as soon as the game finished!" _

_As the foreign players and Waya were busy celebrating their idols return, Akira openly gaped at them. He looked at Hikaru in horror, and his friend was smiling sheepishly. _

_"The game is finished!" Waya announced as the crowd grew larger. _

_Hikaru whispered to Akira, "I need you to be extra calm; I am going to do something a little crazy…" _

_"What?" Akira hissed. "What are you going to do?!" _

_"Shhh!" Hikaru winked, "Just trust me!" _

_"I do but…" _

_Hikaru skipped towards Waya and the crowd of foreign player, "Ne! If Kou's game is finished, do you think he would be willing to play me?" _

_Ogata who knows since when stood beside Akira choked on his cigarette and Akira in spite of his shock was more worried about Ogata. "Cough! Cough!" _

_"Ogata-san!" Akira patted his senior on the back helpfully, he would have asked if the 9-dan was alright but obviously he was not. _

_"Ogata-kun?!" Morishita-sensei called the 9-dan worriedly. _

_Ogata-san wheezed as he slowly got his breathing under control. "I am… fine!" _

_He spoke to soon as the moment he heard, "Oh, he accepted!" Hikaru chirped, he sounded completely innocent to their ears. Ogata once again gagged, this time he was choking on his own saliva. _

_That was downright embarrassing, but Akira was dead worried and slightly suspicious this was some sort of elaborate plan to kill Ogata-san. Then again this was Hikaru, he was the type who would leave his hated enemies alive and wishing they were dead. _

_"Akira, go watch the game…" The 'for me' was left unsaid but implied, because this was Hikaru going insane, challenging himself. As If it was even possible in the first place, then again you never know with Hikaru. _

_"OOH!" _

_Akira felt his jaw drop comically as he rushed to see how his best friend faring against _himself_ online. Waya for some reason refused to stand anywhere near him so Akira managed to get himself a spot on Hikaru's left. The game was progressing pretty quickly and for some crazy reason it looked like _two _different people playing, there was similarity in Shusaku influence of course but Kou was obviously more aggressive and preferring offensive move, Hikaru in the other hand played a calmer and balanced game. _

_Pachi!_

_Pachi! _

_Pachi!_

_The electronic sound of stone was high pitched and wrong in his ears, but nothing was more wrong than watching Hikaru playing against Kou. _

_Pachi!_

_Pachi!_

_Pachi! _

_The game was reaching chuuban, which was when Hikaru stopped moving and looked around him. "Since when so many people come watching?" He wondered out loud. _

_Akira tried his best to keep his voice even. "If you continue, you're going to disturb this competition." _

_Waya growled, "Hey!" _

_Hikaru nodded and proceed to resign, ignoring protest from foreign players. "It's a shame… but I will ask for another game on a different day…" Akira gripped his shoulder so hard, Hikaru was sure it would leave a mark later. _

_Tenrou: May I have another match on another day? _

_"Oi oi…" Waya groaned. "Kou never reply any message, he ignores them! So don't bother…"_

_It took a long while but Waya shut up when a reply, Kou's very first one ever pop up on the messenger box. _

_Kou: This Sunday, at ten in the morning… _

_Their jaw dropped in shock. _

_Hikaru sighed, "Too bad, it's the first day of pro exam… there's no way I can play him." _Hikaru typed in his reply quickly and received another reply.

Kou: A pity, ja… 

_And the elusive net player logged off much to their disappointment. "Well then, it's a shame but…" Hikaru was about to close the window but Waya stopped him. _

_"Can you please make a print screen first! We have to post it in our forum!" Waya exclaimed. _

_"Why?" _

_"It's Kou! He never replied any message! It's his very first!" Waya gushed, "It's a monumental event for us net players!" _

_"Is that so?" Hikaru wondered out loud as he did as Waya requested bewilderedly and sent an email with the said picture to Waya's email address. His job done, Hikaru stood up from his seat. "It's a pity we stop halfway but I have fun! Ha ha ha…" _

_"Hikaru!" Akira hissed, "Let's go home." _

_"You want to go home already?" Hikaru queried and judging from Akira's glare, he was going to get an earful later. "Okay then." And as soon as the word left his mouth Akira grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the crowd. "Thank you for today, have a nice day and see you!" Hikaru waved at them cheerfully. _

_"Please excuse us." Akira followed with a bow, "Send my regards to Shimano-san too…" The Japan's representative was still in the middle of a game so they had no chance to greet him yet. _

_Waya wondered if his Insei friends would believe him if he told them he saw the Touya Akira who was known for his manner and composure was fuming as he dragged Shindou Hikaru out of the hall. It was not every day when you saw two Go prodigies, holding hands and one of them was dragging the other. And also, why Touya Akira had problem with the game, Shindou made a commotion but he didn't really disturb anything. So why he was so pissed at Shindou? _

_"What's his problem?" Waya voiced their thought out loud. _

_And to think they missed their chance to watch a wonderful game, Waya decided it was Touya's fault for this disservice to online community._

* * *

_End of Flashback_

"You lied! To the world! I know you're a liar but to think you went and pull that bluff in front of international players from around the world…" Akira ranted on, "I can't believe you have the nerve to pull it off!"

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Me? Lying to the world…" He sighed exasperatedly. "Akira… it's necessary, when I saw Waya-san's game I recognize him right away…"

"EH?"

"He is Zelda." Hikaru informed in grim tone. "And in case you didn't see it, he is one of the most avid supporters of my teacher… he is one of our first opponents."

Akira paled, "Are you sure, it's him?"

"The first time we played him, he sent a message… 'You're so strong, are you a pro? I am an Insei.' And then in last year tournament… the same one we visited today… He…"

* * *

_Flashback _

_Hikaru watched the crowd of foreigner listening to a Japanese boy with spiky brown hair avidly. He couldn't believe they raised such a fuss over him and his brother. _

_'Hikaru… they're talking about us!' Sai chirped, obviously happy and didn't get how grave the situation they got themselves into. _

_'Uhm!' Hikaru nodded nervously. 'But Aniue… this is not a good news." _

_His grandfather groaned, "It seems you guys broke the internet, or something…" _

_'Ojii-san! Shhh! I want to hear what that boy said!" He hissed as he leaned closer to hear the boy talking. _

**_"So I think… Sai is like… a Shuusaku who is learning modern joseki!" _**

_Huwaa... that was too close for their comfort! No, more like exactly what happened! _

**_"And Kou… he is not a copycat of Sai at all! More like…  
He is Sai's disciple, both of them have strong Shuusaku's influence in their Go but…  
They're different… Sai is like Shusaku, but Kou's Go is inspired by Shusaku!"_**

_What a scary guy, his gut instinct is damn sharp!_

* * *

_End of Flashback_

"Don't underestimate Waya-san." Hikaru stressed, "He has a good instinct, that's why when we walked back to game room back then…" He trailed off.

"You stopped when you walked pass his board." Akira finished. "I wondered why back then, since while he is a pretty good player… I don't see anything that might catch your interest from his game."

Hikaru sighed, "The first thing I noticed about Waya-san's Go, Zelda's Go… is his capability to quickly and accurately judge situation and awareness of his opponent's level in comparison of his own… he is very perceptive, which is why I decide to do such a reckless and drastic measure today…"

Akira gaped at him in shock. "But! Surely you don't know he would be in that tournament today!"

"No, I don't." Hikaru admitted honestly, "However I am betting on foreigner players who played today would have their computer ready and constantly checking our status. In fact for the last few months the traffic in Net-Go shot up drastically because of our absence… in fact I dare to say they wouldn't miss if I or my master log in even for a short while… Waya-san keep track on Net-Go forum as worse as an avid go fans would Weekly Go."

"That's…"

"Which is why I asked grandfather and Towa-san to replay game from kifus I prepared beforehand… while you and I were in plain view today…" Hikaru explained sheepishly, "As for the game where I played myself…"

Akira looked ready to explode, "Yeah! That! That game! How did you do it?!"

The blond grinned, "Easy, I played with myself beforehand and recorded the game! And the rest is the same as other rehearsed game!" Hikaru chirped.

"How?" Akira pressed on impatiently, "I mean… is it even possible?!"

"I just revert another hand back to reckless and suicidal me~" Hikaru said a bit too cheerfully, "Man… it's hard! Seriously hard… I didn't get too far before I got a headache of century even before the game reached chuuban as I have to make sure both hands looks distinctive but still Shuusaku inspired! Which is why I need to think up a way to stop the game prematurely~ Thanks a lot Akira, me resigning half way looked so natural because of you te he~"

"Don't te he me!" Akira panted lightly before he run his fingers through his dark locks, obviously not amused he had a hand on the charade. Although inwardly he was a little happy to help Hikaru, but of course he was not going to give false impression that he would be happy to help Hikaru's next idiotic plot. "Oh whatever… next time give me a warning!" He grumbled, flushing a deep red. Next time, there shouldn't be a next time!

Hikaru gave him a dry look, "Akira… you're a terrible liar, if I told you beforehand I am sure you will get cold sweat…"

Akira opened his mouth to protest before he figured out he was digging his own hole and he was arguing with Hikaru that he could be a good liar of all things.

"So…" He began exasperatedly, "Now you get Waya-san off of your back?"

"Yeap!" He chirped.

"Just so you know, you almost got Ogata-san killed when you pulled that stunt today." Akira informed him helpfully. "I thought his nicotine was going down the wrong pipe or a heart attack."

"Really?" Hikaru rolled his eyes, "So? I recall we're still pissed with him about that stupid bet, let him choke on his nicotine and we're even."

Akira rubbed his temple, and he almost thought Hikaru was starting to like Ogata-san at least a little. No such luck. "I don't even want to follow your logic about getting even."

Shindou Hikaru's logic was not meant to be followed, or you would get lost just like him and his direction challenged mind.

"Hey, Akira… Are you mocking me inside that pretty little head of yours?" Hikaru asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Only Hikaru could put sarcasm, inquiry and an insult in the same sentence.

* * *

**Exam Day **

It was raining cats and dogs, and if anything it didn't help aspiring pros who had nervous jitters for the first day of real exam. Waya didn't feel nervous at all simply because this was his third time and it would be silly to feel like a first timer. Of course there were peoples who didn't feel nervous in spite of taking the exam for the first time. Like Fuku who was gulping hot chocolate milk beside him, but then again this was Fuku who could laugh after he got slaughtered. Saeki-san had commented Fuku reminded him a lot of certain student of Touya Meijin, and if what he heard about the pro was right Waya could see Fuku could be second coming of Ashiwara.

There were other two players who definitely didn't have even an ounce of nervousness in their system in spite of this was their first exam, and no Fuku either.

Touya Akira and Shindou Hikaru

The reason they weren't nervous at all, sipping tea as playing a speed go like nobody's business? It was simply because they had confidence the size of Japan in their skills, and they were right about it.

"Makemashita." Shindou declared in light hearted tone. "I misread the corner."

Touya nodded in agreement. "Yes, but basically I get a small lead in the beginning and hold it until the end… you didn't let me gain any territory afterward."

"Hm…"

"Do we still have time for another game?" Touya queried, glancing at the clock. "Hum… enough if we do that three seconds…"

Shindou waved his hand in negative, cutting his friend off. "No way… you're going to get tired easily afterward." He said as he began to clear the board followed by Touya.

Waya could tell a lot of people in the room was really dying of curiosity to come to their corner to take a peek at the game but scared of what they would see. He knew it was completely their right to do what they want with their time before the exam began, but Waya was really annoyed at how relaxed they were.

Isumi of all people was the one who looked the most tortured by his curiosity, looking at how the older boy fidgeted.

Then someone cut through the tension in the room that partly caused by Shindou and Touya, "You're Touya Akira?"

Waya's eyes widened in shock when he saw a certain glasses wearing boy with mushroom like haircut was looking at the portable goban Shindou and Touya were playing at. "Ochi?" The guy had been on fast track through the rank of Insei but Waya thought the guy was not going to take the exam this year? Then again Ochi had been ranked fifth so even if he decided to take exam now Waya who was ninth wouldn't know since he didn't see Ochi in prelim round.

"I am Ochi Kousuke, Insei…" The glasses wearing boy introduced, "Nice to meet you."

It was obvious Ochi was pointedly ignoring Shindou but the blond boy looked very amused for some reason.

"Nice to meet you too." Touya returned stiffly, hesitant and unsure why someone he didn't know approached him out of the blue.

Ochi glanced at the blond boy he had been pointedly ignoring in favor of Touya Akira and frowned, "Shindou Hikaru, right?"

Shindou just smiled at the younger boy and Waya was really tempted to tell the blond that smile was really wasted on that prick. "Yes, nice to meet you… Ochi-kun."

"Likewise." He gave Shindou a curt nod before his eyes once again were on Touya, "I am looking forward to play you." And then he left the two prodigies, Shindou was still staring at Ochi's retreating back while Touya continued packing the portable board.

"Hikaru? What's wrong?" Touya asked curiously.

Shindou shook his head mirthfully and said, "Nothing but… do you get it?"

"Get what?" Touya asked innocently.

At that time Waya's brain recalled the time certain girl from Kaio laughing and told them that Touya was an oblivious boy with penchant of annoying people without meaning it. _'What the hell? That Touya seriously didn't get it that Ochi just challenging him? Not to mention trying to usurp Shindou's position as his rival to boot?' _

No way, no one could be that oblivious! Right?

At any rate it was so Ochi to want Touya as his rival, the glory hound. Ochi always set his eyes on Isumi and Honda before since they were the strongest in Insei class. Waya was well aware that to Ochi they were stepping stones, after he surpassed them he would move on to the next strongest player to be his rival and he set his eyes on Touya.

Touya had pedigree, fame and skill that already widely known and Ochi saw him as a good rival and measuring stick.

What amazed Waya was how Shindou saw Ochi's intention and didn't even bat an eye. He was simply amused. For a second Waya wondered if it was arrogance in Shindou's part that made the boy didn't feel threatened by Ochi or perhaps…

"Ne, Akira… I need to go to restroom to wash my hand." He held his hand up, "It feels a little sticky."

Touya nodded. "Be back soon, we need to pick our number in five minutes."

"I know." Shindou said as he walked out of the room.

Waya glanced at Touya who immersed himself on Tsumego book and discreetly walked out of the room, following Shindou to the restroom that located not far from the exam room. Inside Waya found Shindou washing his hands and was about to dry them when he spotted Waya.

"Hi, Waya-san… the convention was really fun! Thank you for showing me and Akira around." He said as he dried his hands.

Waya grinned. "Nah… we have fun because of you too! Too bad your game and Kou was interrupted!"

"It's a shame…" Shindou agreed morosely.

Waya took a deep breath, "Ne, Shindou… the guy who talked to you just now… Ochi, I hope he didn't upset you."

"Upset me?" Shindou echoed, "Why?"

"Uhm… Surely you can tell that guy…" Waya trailed off.

Shindou burst to a peal of laughter, "You mean… how he pointedly ignoring me when he challenged Akira? He didn't really ignore me afterward anyway… but I won't be upset just because of that."

"I think he is trying to usurp your position as Touya's rival." Waya added exasperatedly, "Or something like that… That guy at first didn't plan to take exam this year, but change his mind when he heard Touya did… and you too." In fact Waya had a feeling it was Shindou's presence that spurred Ochi on, and unknown outsider with no record out of nowhere became known as Touya's rival.

Shindou shrugged at that, "So?"

"SO?!" Waya echoed incredulously. "It didn't disturb you at all?"

Shindou titled his head to the side with thoughtful expression and then he said. "Waya-san… I hope you didn't take what I am going to say as arrogance but it's simple the way it is…"

"Eh?"

Shindou said, closing his eyes. "In this exam everyone is our rivals, but my lifelong rival is him alone and I am his." He stated with conviction, and when his eyes opened Waya was greeted by a fierce emerald orbs that made him took a step back.

"If I feel disturbed as you said it, or more aptly threatened when someone intend to usurp my position as Akira's rival… that means I not strong enough to the point I can feel insecure…" He murmured. "I am not… because I will not back down without a fight against anyone."

And with that Shindou left Waya alone, contemplating what the blond said.

"Damn… he scared me." Waya wiped the sweat on his brow. "And I haven't played him yet."

* * *

**Exam room (10:00AM) **

Waya drew his number and inwardly cringed at number 13 he got. He was not superstitious but he was not feeling lucky today and the number popped up like an ominous sign. Waya didn't get a good lock on the paper that decided their opponent but he got a glimpse that his first opponent would be the one who got number 5. Once your number was decided, your opponents for entire exam were decided. If he was lucky maybe he would get to play Iijima, he was good at playing Iijima.

If he was unlucky…

"Ah."

Waya couldn't stop himself from swallowing when he looked up to see smiling Shindou standing right in front of the goban he assigned to.

"Let's play our best, Waya-san."

"Of course." He returned with a grin while inwardly he was cringing. He really wanted to try playing Shindou but he was not looking forward for it to happen right on the very first day.

Shinoda-sensei who was in charge of the exam announced the time they had to set on the clock, three hours for each of them with one minute byoyomi, and the komi was 5.5 moku.

"Please." Shindou gave him a curt bow which Waya returned shortly.

"Please."

Waya took a deep breath and they nigiri, it was small comfort that he won black. He was a little nervous that he was going to play Shindou who was as strong as Touya and from what he had seen in convention was good enough to go toe to toe with Kou however… he was going to give Shindou a damn good fight!

Pachi!

Pachi

Pachi

Pachi

It didn't take long for them to claim corners, and Waya started to plan to establish his territory. Should he start small or big? He had to play safe first and then he would decide when to take action.

Pachi

Pachi

It didn't take long for Waya to see that Shindou was indeed a strong player, and a daring one at that. For a moment he was reminded of Kou, he saw the shadow of Kou in Shindou's Go. However they were different still… playing Kou was like waking up a sleeping beast, fierceness underneath steadiness and calmness. Shindou in the other hand played a completely balanced game, there was not feigned calmness. He was a fierce player in his own right but he was careful and so calm.

Pachi

Pachi

Waya sighed inwardly, _'Ugh… I was in disadvantage, not by much as we just about to reach chuuban but… then again Shindou didn't rush his attack at all and focus on deflecting my attack.'_ Waya fidgeted a little, _'The ko fight, it seems it will end with neither of us gaining territory from it so let's don't bother.' _

Pachi

"…"

"…"

Waya glanced at the clock and realized it was not his imagination that over fifteen minutes had passed since his last move. _'Shindou was still staring at the board, there is nothing amiss… he is leading and after my last hand obviously he should respond with a hane. What got him thinking for so long?'_

Pachi

He moved at last but he was playing that hane Waya foresaw, so there was nothing wrong so why he wasted so much time for it?

**"It's time for lunch, please halt your clock."** Shindoda-sensei announced right when Waya placed his stone.

Pachi

Shindou quickly reached out for the clock and stopped it. "Phew." Shindou let out a sigh of relief before he stood up and excused

Waya was really confused right now because damn! Shindou looked relieved and Waya was as sure as hell it was not because of lunch time. It didn't help that from the corner of his eyes he saw Touya made a beeline towards their goban. The Meijin's son even had a gall to look at their goban before he rushed to catch up with his friend.

"Hikaru, you didn't order lunch, did you?"

"No, I bring bento from home." He said, "And I bring your share."

"But." Touya started to protest.

Shindou sighed, "I don't want to hear it, no skipping lunch… but before that…"

* * *

**Ki'in Parking Lot **

"One, two, three!"

Akira wanted to die of embarrassment, because this was so… so… "Hikaru! Can we stop now?!"

Hikaru eyed his tutor and surrogate brother who was still stretching beside them with gutso. _"No! Don't stop! We need to stretch our body to refresh our mind."_

"No." Hikaru parroted Sai. "It's good to stretch our body so our mind is refreshed for the next half."

_"Now, hands to your front!" _Sai instructed.

Sometimes Hikaru wondered if Sai was really from Heian era as he recalled courtier from back then didn't exactly fond of exercise but Sai… maybe it was Honinbou's school teaching?

"One, two, three! Akira! Louder."

"Hikaru! We're winning so why? I don't need to refresh my mind." He said pointedly.

"Well… the food will taste better I am sure!" Hikaru chirped.

Akira glared at his friend. "This stretching is your idea, so does the lunch!"

"Skipping lunch is stupid anyway!"

Thankfully for the two prodigies no one saw them arguing about stretching and lunch.

* * *

**13:30, Exam restart **

Waya came as soon as he finished his lunch to the game room simply to stare at the board as long as he wanted so he could see what the hell Shindou was up to. However no matter how hard he stare he didn't see anything amiss in the board just a normal well played game from Shindou's part. The problem was that long pause Shindou made to decide that standard move, there was no way Shindou didn't mean anything with it.

Pachi

Pachi

Ten hands later Waya was still at disadvantage but he still had his chance. Maybe Shindou thought he found a new and better path but in the end gave up and played a standard move. Maybe there was nothing dangerous planned in the end. It scared him, but it's just…

Pachi

Pachi

His eyes widened when he saw that since who knows when Shindou's territory was growing and it was getting difficult to take back territory he had lost. This was not supposed to happen, but Shindou's stone had been in perfect position to block him and if he attacked now he had no doubt Shindou would be able to cut him at every turn.

* * *

Akira watched his opponent, an older male Insei who had a habit of adjusting his glasses when he was nervous. To be honest Akira was pretty disappointed that an Insei at this age that supposed to have a great deal of experience was so easily intimidated by him.

Pachi, clack!

"Ah."

He couldn't believe the older boy was nervous enough that he didn't careful when placing stone and knock Akira's black stone from its position.

_'I had enough.' _Akira decided.

Pachi!

The Insei, Iijima gritted his teeth and declared. "Arimasen."

"Thank you for the game." Akira returned promptly.

* * *

Hikaru narrowed his eyes as Waya contemplated his next move. However Hikaru could tell Waya was going to declare his resignation in the end. Waya was not a weak player, but he was still very clumsy though. He didn't read the board enough and a little hasty at attacking Hikaru's territory. Against Waya, with reading ahead he gained massive advantage.

"…"

Pachi

It was admirable he was still not giving up but after the stone on the left died, it was over for him.

Pachi!

Waya swallowed as he surveyed the board and concluded, "Makemashita…"

"Thank you for the game…" Hikaru said as he gave Waya a curt bow.

His first game, first win in pro exam. It was just the first step to the road of pro world.

* * *

**02:15 Exam Ended **

"Aaah… to lose in the first day!" Waya wailed, "This is suck."

Iijima scowled, "Just my luck, Touya Akira in the first day…"

Nase and Fuku watched them with sympathetic eyes, Adachi sighed exasperatedly as on second day it was his turn to face Touya.

Waya exhaled, "But you know… I feel nice, I lost but… I feel content after playing Shindou… it's fun!" Especially when the guy spend over twenty minutes thinking of his move and Waya spent almost as long trying to puzzle it out.

Nase nodded in agreement, "Yeah… I don't really get it myself either, but I get this feeling I try my very best so it's fine I lose the game…"

"That's stupid." Ochi interjected suddenly. "How could you feel that way after you lose?"

Waya glared at Ochi, "Watch it! Why don't you wait until you play Shindou yourself?"

"I will win." He stated with conviction. "Since he won against you Waya, I guess he is indeed good enough to be Touya's rival but I will be better…"

Waya laughed at him, "You? Ochi… I have played both of you but let me tell you this, I know I can win against you just like you can beat me too but against Shindou I don't feel like that at all! So Ochi… I am looking forward to see if you can say the same thing after you play Shindou."

Ochi harrumphed, "I will play him on the nineteenth game, but before that I will play Touya on the fifteenth." He said as he existed the room with a huff. "I will win!"

The older Insei scoffed as he watched Ochi's retreating back, fighting his urge to stick his tongue out at Ochi. "Humph! That arrogant prick!" At this rate Ochi was going to beat Touya at his list of arrogant jerk he disliked. "Isumi-san? What's wrong?"

He heard Nase called the oldest Insei in the room. It was then he noticed Isumi had been too quiet throughout the conversation, as the older boy had been staring at the exam sheet containing their names. Waya approached Isumi and wondered why the older boy looked so anxious. His eyes widened when it fell on the number of players Isumi had to face on his fifteen and sixteenth.

Touya Akira (9)  
Shindou Hikaru (5)

Isumi-san… he was going to play them, two days in a row.

* * *

**On the way back home**

"So we're not going to play until on the third last game." Akira concluded as he recalled the schedule sheet.

Hikaru nodded, "Yeah… All things considered if we keep winning, we have passed by the time we face each other."

Akira nodded, "So… you played Waya-san today, how is he?"

"As expected…" Hikaru beamed, "And the best of all, he didn't suspect anything… he may have good instinct but he surely too easy to be distracted."

"Distracted?" Akira echoed. "What do you mean?"

Hikaru laughed softly, "He is right at the first time that I was up to no good with spending over twenty minutes over a standard move, but then he let himself distracted and let his guard down…"

Akira frowned at that, "That's reckless…"

"I wouldn't call it that…" Hikaru corrected, "It's not that he is reckless… a little clumsy perhaps but more like he tend to overthinking and give up on it."

"Hm…"

Hikaru continued, "In short he is no good at playing complicated game… he can get better at it but at this point…"

"I see…" Akira titled his head to the side. "So, how do you think about the exam so far?"

Hikaru laughed softly. "Hm… I can't say much but it full of interesting person… there is that Tsubaki-san who speak really loud, Waya-san too… and there is that Ochi-kun…"

Akira paused at that, "Ochi, who?" Hikaru stopped walking and stared at his best friend, before he whacked Akira upside his head with fan. "Aww! What was that for?!"

"Akira! I am really flattered you only have eyes on me." Hikaru ignored his brother's helpfulness in pointing out how wrong that sounded. Akira had a tunnel vision that would make messenger pigeon envious. "But really! Start making effort in memorizing name and face, I don't want more people getting ideas about you!"

* * *

**Shorter than usual but it's a good place to stop I think so I can just breeze through unimportant game to the important ones... Ochi as in canon is not suppose in exam this year but I am convinced it's a good idea ^^ Beside I can't resist to have more insei to appear NOW! **

**And I just rewatched Spirited Away and can't help but giggle when I saw Haku ha ha ha... It didn't help there is this game where Akira wear almost an exact same clothes as Haku, heian era clothes in white and light blue ^^ No wonder Haku and Akira's resemblance is noted again and again LOL  
**

** and as for Honinbou Disciple... I wonder if anyone who read it notice it have more 'mystic' element to it compared to Monogatari.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Sharp Turn on Their Path **

When Shindou and Touya tore through examinees with ten straight wins so smoothly, it was becoming apparent that Ogata-pro was right that there was only one pro spot left to compete. Isumi was determined it was going to be his. He also had ten straight wins, but he didn't get them as smoothly as Shindou and Touya as he barely score a win against a skilled outsider named Tsujigaoka who also had defeated Waya and a game against Honda in his seventh was also a pretty close game if not for that small mistake Honda made. Ochi had ten wins too but opponents he faced so far weren't noteworthy, lower ranked inseis and weaker outsiders. Which was why Ochi complained why he only got weaklings as his opponents. In short even if he and Ochi gotten straight wins like Shindou and Touya, the difference was obvious.

As in comparison Shindou and Touya finished their game almost effortlessly so far regardless of who they faced, Waya, Adachi, Tsujigaoka… They left a trail of disheartened opponents. Touya in particular was very ruthless, and from their short game Isumi had deduced Touya played classic Go like the Meijin but favoring offense than defense. He also very good at cornering, attacking weakness and cutting escape routes, in short when playing him there was no time to relax.

Shindou from small glimpse Isumi had from his fellow Insei was softer in his Go, more subtle and playing an unconventional Go that was a mix of archaic and modern joseki. He was also more… playful and mischievous on goban, and possessed skill in reading the game ahead that would even make seasoned pro jealous. When playing him you would keep second guessing yourself as you had no idea what he saw through you and how he was going to use it against you. He was like antithesis of Touya's Go.

In a way, playing Shindou was scarier than playing Touya.

However it was hard to feel intimidated by the guy when he was nowhere near Goban, especially when he and his fellow Inseis managed to have a glimpse of codependency between him and Touya Akira. It was not hard to find out that apparently every Friday, the day before exam Touya always slept over at Shindou's house. They always came together and dropped off by a number of different people by car, Shindou's grandfather's friends, and the young woman who worked at Touya's Go salon.

Waya asked out of curiosity and Shindou answered.

So when Shindou was nowhere in sight and Touya glaring at the entrance, of course it made them curious of Shindou's whereabouts.

Then when it was fifteen minutes before they had to be present in game room Touya's phone vibrated on his pocket, and he picked it up so fast his hand was almost a blur. He didn't even look who was calling when he picked the call up. "Hello? Hikaru, where are you?"

There was a small pause, which Isumi assumed because Shindou was telling Touya something.

"How could you alight in the wrong bus station? I told you it's the fifth stop! And now you got lost?"

Touya's voice was not loud but the hallway was pretty narrow and no one but him and Waya were nearby so they could hear Touya clearly. "Well… this is why I told you I should fetch you, but you insist just because I stay at home because of mother's guests I should go to Ki'in myself! Okay, now you wait for me there! Don't move and I will…"

"What do you mean NO? I will just tell the examiner the problem… don't you dare to come here yourself! You are bad with direction, and you even got lost on your way to your own house!"

How was that even possible, Isumi wondered inwardly. Then Isumi recalled how Waya told him that Touya went all the way to drop off to pick Shindou up in fear the blond would get lost in straight forty feet corridor in the last amateur tournament.

"Well… it happened once and I don't trust it won't happen again!" Touya retorted angrily as he walked out from the building and fortunately a Ki'in staff arrived with a taxi. The said staff just finished paying the driver when Touya without so much of a hello got in the passenger seat and asked the driver to drive him to where Shindou was, before he resumed arguing with Shindou on phone.

Shinoda-sensei was apparently standing beside them with dumfounded look on his face and said. "Uhm… I guess Shindou-kun and Touya-kun would be a little late… well, as long as they returned before one hour passed it would be fine."

Isumi couldn't help but worried they would be late.

Apparently their fear was unfounded because right at ten o'clock, Touya entered the game room with sheepish looking Shindou in tow.

Adachi who was playing Shindou today looked a bit hopeful that the blond won't be able to play at his full strength. The outsider who played him ended up resigning before lunch, combination of intimidated, nervous wreck and in overall a bad day for him. Touya was as ruthless as ever but Honda was holding his best, although from what Isumi saw, Honda was in severe disadvantage. Unless a miraculous comeback occurred Honda had to resign not long after lunch ended.

Shindou stayed for lunch even though he could have leave, so obviously he was waiting for Touya. Or perhaps it was Shindou's duty to make Touya eat his lunch. So when Touya excused himself to restroom Waya dragged Isumi to their table. Waya being Waya blurted out the question that had been nagging them since forever. "So, how long do you guys know each other? Are you two childhood friends?"

Shindou looked amused at that question. "Ha ha ha…" Shindou laughed softly, "Why people keep assuming Akira and I are childhood friends I wonder? I know Akira for less a year actually."

Less than A YEAR?!

"Nine months to be precise." He added in thoughtful voice, "We met on December last year…"

Isumi mentally counted, and Shindou was right it was less than a year. "Well… you guys are so close." As thick as thieves to be precise, according to Waya. "I thought you guys were always together from you were small."

"Hm…" Shindou hummed, "Well, you're right about 'always together' part… we're hardly spending time without each other's company."

How did he say that so shamelessly?!

"Well… you guys go to the same school and in the same class." Waya grumbled.

"Hm? We spent most of our time outside of school playing Go with each other too… mostly at my house or the Go salon Touya-sensei owned." Shindou added. "We spend a lot of time together, though I don't think it's enough reason for people to keep thinking it's odd to see one of us without another. It's weird… last time a classmate of ours ran to me in a supermarket and immediately asked where Akira was…. It's not like we're attached at the hip or anything."

To be frank Isumi had to admit after seeing them together without fail every week, it felt odd to see one of them alone. Like this morning, when Touya was all alone and waiting for his friend to come. Maybe it was like looking at someone who was wearing one shoe on one foot and barefooted on the other.

"Why weren't you an Insei?" Isumi asked. "Or joining any tournament?"

Waya leaned in curiously and Isumi could tell Waya was hoping a different answer than what Touya gave whenever people asked why he never joined amateur tournament or becoming an Insei.

"I never thought of it." He answered bluntly.

What? Never thought of it? Isumi echoed inwardly. "Uhm… how come?" He asked awkwardly.

"Go is my life… since I was eight." He murmured with a smile. "I love playing Go but I never saw the need to compete in Go…" There was something else here, Isumi could tell but Shindou wouldn't reveal it to them who were mere passing acquaintances to Shindou.

"Yes." Touya since who know when was standing behind Shindou drawled, and the blond let out a tiny yelp. "Imagine someone like you want to waste all that skill away…"

"Well… thank you for dragging me here then, Akira." He returned to his best friend sincerely. "What will I do without you?" He said as he slung his hand around Touya's shoulders.

"Get lost in the road of life." Touya replied flatly, not impressed by his friend's antics. "Corridors… or anywhere longer than ten feet."

Waya and Isumi watched Shindou flushing deep red at Touya's deadpan words, and they were so absorbed by the spectacle they jumped in shock when the bell that announced lunch break was over rang.

"Which is why…" Touya continued in the same deadpan tone. "Wait for me, I will wrap my game up as soon as I can or I have to explain to your grandfather why I lost his grandson. Because you must be the only human on earth who got lost on the way to his own house…"

"That only happen once! And I overslept on bus… it's an honest mistake."

The craziest thing was, Shindou didn't deny he got lost to on the way to his own house. Waya later told him that Shindou must be as blind as a bat to get lost on his way to his own house, and while it was unbelievable Shindou did wait for Touya to finish his game before they went home together.

By the way neither Izumi nor Waya dare to tell Honda that the reason Touya was so merciless at the second half was because he wanted to escort Shindou home as soon as possible. The poor sod was feeling bad enough after he got slaughtered by Touya.

* * *

**Touya Residence **

It was unusual for Hikaru to make a phone call unless it was emergency so understandably Akira was pretty anxious when he saw Hikaru's name flashing on the screen. He was almost afraid to hear his best friend was stranded somewhere but judging from Hikaru's voice, the blond was not in distress as bad as Akira predicted. He didn't sound as cheerful as usual though, so Akira kept his guard up.

"I guess you can call it emergency." Hikaru began with a sigh, "And no, before you ask, I know where I am… I am at the cafe near my house."

Akira raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the clock, "Now is three in the afternoon, shouldn't you bee at your house to supervise that weekly round robin tournament?" He queried.

"It's postponed." Hikaru replied curtly, "This morning it was raining cats and dogs near my house, Jii-san and Towa-san got caught when they were out for morning walk… now they're sick, a pretty bad cold… "

The Meijin's son gasped at that, "Have you called a doctor?" Although knowing Hikaru, of course he did.

"Of course…" Hikaru echoed Akira's thought. "Doctor said they would be fine, as long as they get enough rest, nutritious meals and medicine… " Hikaru listed on, "However it seems it would take a few days and even more to get them to recover…"

"I see…" Akira was relieved that they was fine, old age made even common cold dangerous. He had heard that his grandfather from his mother's side passed away because of cold that got worse because of his old age.

Hikaru continued, "The problem is… everyone insisted that I can't stay at home at all, in fear I will catch it from my grandfather or Towa-san…"

He?

"So, if it's not too much trouble… can I stay over at your house?" Hikaru asked.

"Eh?"

"If not I think I can stay with Ichihashi-san or Heiji-san…"

Akira was snapped out of his shock and yelled, "No! You can stay in my house!"

There was a short silence before Akira heard something, a muffled laughter, a string of hapless giggle he was becoming familiar with whenever his best friend was amused. Akira flushed red when he realized he had yelled at Hikaru to stay at his house.

"Thank you Akira, so… I will take a cab to your house so you don't have to worry I will get lost. He he… don't worry, I am not going anywhere heh…" He said between his giggling.

"Hikaru!" Akira was not amused.

* * *

**One hour later…**

It was like divine intervention that once again his mother was not at home when Hikaru reached his house. She was out for grocery shopping so Akira supposed his mother was not completely out of luck to meet Hikaru at last. Hikaru was dressed in his usual home attire a hakama and he was carrying a gift even. Akira never understood why Hikaru was so patriotic, wearing traditional clothes all the time and fond of classical literature. The irony was, between the two of them, he was the full Japanese not Hikaru.

Hikaru was beaming as he handed Akira a box wrapped in furoshiki. "Here…"

"You don't have to." Akira admonished him. "I told you to not bring any before, why now?"

"Well… " Hikaru trailed off, "Now I am staying over so I think it's appropriate, beside… it's not really a gift as I wanted to share it."

Akira frowned when he caught smell of something smoky from the gift. The smell was not sharp but he was cradling the box close to his chest. "What is this?"

"Smoked foods." Hikaru beamed. "Jii-san watched a show in food channel about homemade bacon, so we make simple smoker with cardbox… inside are smoked cheese, fish, bacon and egg."

Akira knew Hikaru always make time to relax from Go, reading books, calligraphy, handicraft, but this was the first time he heard making homemade bacon on the list. "Where should I put this then? Fridge?"

"Yep, where else?" Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Your parents?"

"Father was on the way home from Ki'in." He informed Hikaru, "Mother is out shopping."

"I see."

Whenever Hikaru said that, Akira always wondered and tempted to ask what did you see, Hikaru? His best friend seemed to see something distant, steps ahead of him. Sometimes, he saw something Akira could never comprehend too.

* * *

**Akira's Room **

The first thing that pop up on Hikaru's mind about Akira's bedroom was, empty and plain. It was not like his room was colorful, it was similar with Akira's but he had lots of books, handicraft displayed proudly on his shelves, and calligraphy scrolls on the wall that made his room nowhere as empty as Akira's.

_'Really… Akira's life is dominated by Go and Go alone.'_ Hikaru thought as he glanced at Akira's book shelves. Akira had some novels but he had seen them from their trip to bookstores, so Akira rarely read any of those before he came along. Go books dominated most of the shelves with a small section of school books. The only furniture aside from the shelves was Akira's desk.

_'True.' _Sai agreed, _'I think it's a little unhealthy…' _

Coming from his surrogate brother who had died for Go, that was something…

It didn't surprise Hikaru at all that the first thing Akira asked when they sat down was a game.

"No."

Hikaru would never ever be immune from Akira's puppy eyes, especially when Akira made such a face because of him. Then again Hikaru learned that sometimes, he had to deny Akira a game once in a while.

"But…"

Hikaru sighed, "Akira… what did you do yesterday after school ended?"

"Studying Honinbou Jowa's kifu." Akira answered promptly.

"The day before that." Hikaru drawled.

"Replaying our games and discussing it with my father."

"And I believe two days ago we're playing at salon." Hikaru finished with a sigh. "Look Akira, you can play Go everyday but… you need to relax too."

In the background Sai sighed loudly, although only Hikaru could hear him. _'Hikaru is right Touya-kun, we have to relax sometime to keep our mind sharp.' _

"We're in the middle of pro exam!" Akira looked appalled by the prospect of relaxing in such an important exam.

Hikaru openly rolled his eyes. "I don't think relaxing once in a while is going to hurt our chance to pass the exam, if anything… it helps us."

_'Exactly what Hikaru said.' _Sai supported his brother, never mind the Meijin's son couldn't hear him. _'Go is a mental game, a healthy and well rested mind and body are essentials to our Go!' _

Akira was about to open his mouth to protest before he recalled when Hikaru was preaching this kind of thing, he was quoting his master. To Akira, Sai was as wise as his father when it comes to Go. "Relaxing like… what?"

Considering who Akira's role model was, Hikaru expected this to be honest. "Really, Akira… normally people don't need to be taught how to relax." He glanced around the room. "So, where did you put your futon and pillows?"

Akira glanced to his left, "On that closet? Why?"

Without a word Hikaru started to pull Akira's pillows out of the closet, throwing it to Akira's face. Looking at Akira's flabbergasted face, Hikaru was tempted to start a pillow fight-he had a secret desire to have one - but that was too noisy and Akira's parent was bound to be home sooner or later. So Hikaru opted to pointedly ignore Akira's gaping and went rummaging his overnight bag.

It was a small candle in purple color and at Akira's curious look, Hikaru explained. "It's lavender scented candle…" Then he pulled his laptop out and a DVD. "Now… let's do this." Hikaru was grinning and Akira had a feeling he was not going to like what his best friend was up to.

About one hour later Hikaru was struggling to not laugh at Akira. Then again considering this was Akira's first time, he supposed it was understandable to be affected this badly.

_'Hikaru! Don't be mean! Akira-kun is a perfectly… hic! Sensitive young man! Hic!' _

The blond looked to side where his brother was crying waterfall, _'Well, in Heian era…' _Back then it was something to be sensitive, as Sai was a noble. But in present days for a man and a young teenager to cry over… this?

"Hic…" Akira sniffed as his eyes glued on the screen of Hikaru's laptop.

_'_Lucky!' 

'Woof!' 

It supposed to be a touching scene where the dog and the boy hugged.

'We will never be apart again!' The protagonist cried.

Although Hikaru could see hunger gleaming on the dog's eyes, how that pair of beady eyes were looking at tasty treat the film maker staff was waving at him. It was a pretty good film but Hikaru had a good eyes that he could see the reflection of beef jerky in Lucky's eyes. He also had watched the making of this movie too, and he thought it would be wise if they didn't show that treat waving scene as it totally ruin the image for those who believe this touching scene to be genuine.

"Hic…"

Looking at Akira's face, perhaps it would be wise to not reveal the truth. Akira was very steely on goban but off of it he was a very sensitive boy. Sometimes Hikaru wondered how other young Go players, such as Waya thought Akira was frigid. Then again Akira was always guarded around outsiders, or most people to be exact as Hikaru could see Akira didn't let his guard down around his father's student either. Being the son of Touya Meijin and the face of new generation was tough, even for Akira.

The credit rolled on the screen after the movie ended and Akira's eyes were puffy.

"Akira… " Hikaru began uneasily.

Akira was glaring at him, no doubt the Meijin's son thought it was some sort of prank especially since Hikaru was tear-free. Well, he admitted inwardly, he didn't expect Akira to react this badly to this kind of exposure. Maybe he had to pick a comedy next, or something like '_Kamikakushi'_ instead? Well, that Haku looked a little like Akira so maybe it was not a good idea as Akira would think Hikaru was making fun of him again.

Hikaru unfortunately couldn't stop himself from giggling at the prospect of what kind of reaction Akira would make when he saw Haku of Spirited Away.

"You're so mean! Hikaru!" Akira cried as he ran out of his bedroom and towards the bathroom to wash his face.

"Oi!"

It would be fine if they kept the whole ordeal to themselves but in his haste Akira ran to his father, tears was blurring his vision so he ran straight to his father's chest and soaking the Meijin's montsuki in the process.

"Ah."

Hikaru wondered what ran through the Meijin's mind that time. His son ran out of the room, crying and calling Hikaru mean. And even though it was incidental it looked like Akira was purposely crying to his chest like a frightened child. Not to mention Sakaki-san and Ogata-san were staring at them behind the Meijin with bewildered expression.

"Father… I am just…" Akira stammered.

"What happen Akira?" The Meijin sounded pretty at a lost at the sight of his teary eyed child.

It took them a long while to explain to the Meijin that no, they weren't fighting. Akira was not crying because of him, no. Maybe it was not the brightest idea Hikaru ever had to make Akira watch this kind of movie to relax, especially if it made Akira puffy eyed. At least nothing bad occurred and the Meijin looked very relieved beneath that stoic mask he wore, because with a son like Akira, Touya-sensei had zero experience of dealing with fighting children and crying son.

In an effort to divert the topic dinner was mentioned, and how Akira's mother was late.

Then the house's phone rang and Akira picked it up. It was his mother, informing them there was a problem with traffic and train so she would be late and they should call for a takeout instead of waiting for her.

Hikaru glanced at Akira and then said, "If you don't mind, I can cook something simple…"

"You're a guest, Shindou-kun." Akira's father said.

"It's not too much trouble." Hikaru assured the Meijin. "And Akira will help me."

Akira raised an eyebrow at him, _'When did I agree to that?' _ His expression said.

Hikaru beamed, _'Nah… about now.' _And proceeded to drag Akira to the kitchen, leaving the adult to process that their dinner was going to be cooked by a pair of boys.

* * *

**Dinner Time **

Ashiwara-san came a little late and he was surprised to see the group including Touya-sensei were waiting for dinner quietly at dining room and Shindou-kun and Akira were cooking. Or to be exact Shindou-kun was cooking while Akira was helping with preparing the dishes. He was going to help but Shindou-kun was almost done so he opted to help Akira bringing the food and drinks to the dining room.

"I didn't know Shindou-kun can cook." Ashiwara-san beamed.

Akira laughed at that, "Well… he likes to eat, so he learns a lot."

"He likes to eat?" Ashiwara-san echoed.

Akira nodded, "You can't tell from his looks, but Hikaru really can eat a lot…" He ate moderate amount in daily basis but the amount Hikaru ate after exercise was five times Akira's portion.

"My!"

Akira poked his head to the hallway and saw his mother cupping her cheek, "Okaa-san."

"Smells really good!" She gushed, "What do we have for dinner?"

"Vegetable tempura, miso eggplant…" Akira listed on a row of Japanese food his friend cooked. In spite of his French ancestry Akira never saw Hikaru cooking any western food.

His mother titled her head to the side in confusion. "Hm…" She followed them to dining room. "It's homemade food… who cooked all of these?" She wondered.

"Oh, it's…" Akira trailed off but paused when he saw Hikaru came inside the dining room, holding up a broken rubber band and his hair was loose.

"Akira… do you have anything I can tie my hair with?" Hikaru asked morosely, his golden strands falling over his shoulders like a waterfall.

Akira was about to answer him but stopped when his mother gasped, "My! Akira-san! You didn't tell me you have a friend over tonight! And such a pretty friend too!"

"Heh?" Akira and Hikaru chorused.

His mother strode across the room, eyeing Hikaru who was wearing her apron over his hakama. It was the only apron in the house, and Hikaru didn't want to get his clothes dirty. "Uhm… My apologies for borrowing your apron without permission… Touya-san." Undoubtedly that was not the first sentence Hikaru expected to say to Akira's mother.

"I don't mind." Akira's mother said assuringly. "You look like a perfect Yamato Nadeshiko dear… "

"Uhm…" Even Hikaru didn't know what to say in respond to that.

"Although…" She trailed off, "I didn't expect Akira-san to bring his girlfriend over so soon, but I am not complaining… My, where's my manner. I am Touya Akiko… Akira-san's mother, what's your name dear?"

At that moment Ashiwara-san burst to a peal of laughter, followed by Sakaki-san and Ogata-san. His father was speechless at his wife's misunderstanding.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Ashiwara-san gasped. "Akiko-san… he is Shindou-kun!"

"Eh?"

"Not that I can fault Akiko-san to mistake him for a girl." Sakaki-san muttered under his breath mirthfully.

With hakama and a Japanese apron, and on top of that his hair was loose Hikaru looked perfectly like a pretty girl. Akira was not a stranger to gender confusion as he was mistaken for a girl when he was young too.

His mother blushed, horrified she mistook his son's best friend to be a girl. "My… I am sorry Shindou-kun."

Hikaru just smiled at his mother, "Don't worry… Touya-san, it happens pretty often." Just like that he laughed it off but didn't make Akira's mother felt better so he added. Akira could see Hikaru now felt terribly guilty to make his mother embarrassed herself in front of so many people. "When I was five, I even won a contest… my mother dressed me up as a girl with wig and twenty layers kimono! He he he… that's why…" Hikaru trailed off seriously. "I am looking forward for puberty."

And just like that Ashiwara-san, Sakaki-san and even Ogata-san couldn't stop themselves from laughing at Hikaru even though Ogata-san was smirking instead of laughing out loud.

All things considered it was a pretty memorable first meeting between Hikaru and his mother.

* * *

**Touya Study Room **

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Hikaru wondered why Touya Meijin requested a game before they retired to bed, after everyone in study group left. The Meijin even asked Akira to help his mother's chore so they had their privacy.

"Makemashita." Hikaru said as he gave the Meijin a customary bow. There was only yose left but he foresaw his lost, at best it was 5.5 moku but at worse it would be eight moku again.

He and Akira had a long way to go to catch up to Touya Meijin and Sai but they were improving tremendously too. "Shall we discuss it?"

The Meijin shook his head, "It can wait, Shindou-kun…"

It was odd for the Meijin to postpone a discussion, as far as Hikaru knew the Meijin was always curious of his insight. "Is there…" Hikaru steeled himself, resisting his urge to look at his left where Sai was sitting. "Something you would like to talk about with me, Touya-sensei?"

The Meijin was silent for a long while before he opened his mouth, "A wise colleague of mine said, being a pro Go player is a long and hard road with no end…" He began, "However in that unending and hard road I still think we have to get somewhere… to reach something."

It was easy to guess what the four titles holder was getting at, "Hand of God?"

The Meijin nodded "Another wise man said, Go is a game for two…" Hikaru supposed that was obvious but it seemed that statement was not talking about the number of player. "A perfect game, a perfect move… is played between two equals…"

Was the Meijin was trying to get at what he was thinking?

Hikaru was really tempted to see what kind of expression Sai made but that would look really suspicious to stare at empty air. His palms were getting sweaty and he wondered if he managed to keep his face straight.

"I am looking forward to see the Go you and Akira played once the two of you enter the pro world." The Meijin finished.

Eh? He and Akira?

The Meijin stood up, "You and Akira are walking on that path now…" He murmured as he exited the room, leaving Hikaru who was stunned and still in shock in the room.

After he was sure the Meijin was out of earshot Hikaru turned to Sai and asked, 'What was that?'

Sai sighed exasperatedly, 'I am not so sure myself but that person… maybe he is at a lost and want to ask for direction even though he couldn't understand it himself… but then again you're a child and his son's equal. It won't be right to ask you…'

'But… if he just want to ask for a rival, an equal… he can just ask!' For you was unsaid but implied in Hikaru's voice.

Sai tapped his fan, 'Hikaru… in his eyes, I should be out in the open if I want to be his equal. As long as I am shrouded in darkness of internet… he will not give me even a glance.'

'But Ani-ue, it's not your fault!' Hikaru protested. 'You're…'

Sai shook his head, 'Hikaru, go to sleep… don't concern yourself about me or Touya Meijin. You and Akira-kun have a big day tomorrow, remember?'

* * *

**Few Days later… **

It was the day of their study group so even though there was no insei class, Isumi came to institute as for today his study game borrowed a game room instead of holding it in Sakurano-pro's house. Isumi didn't expect to see Shindou of all people in the institute and alone to boot. So when Shindou spotted him the first sentence he blurted out once the younger boy was close enough to hear him was,

"Hi Shindou, where is Touya?"

Shindou raised an eyebrow at him, "You know Isumi-san, lately… Akira and I get that a lot whenever we're alone. Contrary to popular belief, we don't live on each other's pocket." He said in joking tone.

Isumi felt sheepish at that, "Well… as I said before, we rarely saw you alone… only once in last exam day and today."

"I suppose." Shindou shrugged, "By the way Isumi-san… do you mind to show me how to get to Insei's exam room?"

"Eh?"

Shindou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I went to buy drinks… so I went to look for vending machine since the one near the exam room run out of cola and peach juice, and I forget how to get back there."

Isumi was pretty sure from here to the exam room was pretty close, around three turns and two hallways apart. Ki'in's layout was not that complicated and yet… _'Touya was not kidding, Shindou really easily got lost." _

"It's that way?" Shindou was looking at completely opposite direction and Isumi began to sweat.

Even though Shindou was not exactly a friend he couldn't let the younger boy lost, not to mention Touya was so overprotective of Shindou, Isumi didn't want to see what the Touya junior would do if he knew Isumi let Shindou got lost in institution of all places. Looking at how lost Shindou was, trying to recall how to get back to his previous location, it was no wonder Touya fret over this guy a lot.

"Uhm let me show you the way…" Isumi said as he asked Shindou to follow him. He was going to be a little late to his study session, but it was fine. His pro seniors weren't so strict about punctuality anyway.

"By the way Shindou…" Isumi trailed off, "Why you're here? Are you going for a study session?"

"Actually…" Shindou trailed off.

"Hikaru-sensei!" Child voices called, snapping their attention to two children sitting on the bench next to the entrance to exam room. "Sensei…" The girl in pink dress whined. "I told you to not run off by yourself! You got lost, didn't you?"

Sensei?

Shindou laughed sheepishly, "Ai-chan… keep it down please, it's embarrassing."

The boy who was wearing a green hoodie snorted, "Akira-sensei said to not let Hikaru-sensei to wander alone, but sensei insist… "

"I make it back, didn't I?" Shindou giggled as he passed the kid their drinks.

Isumi stared at the three, "Shindou, they are…"

Shindou smiled at him, "This Ai-chan, and Takeshi-kun… they're here to take Insei exam." Then he added, "And I told you no calling me sensei here… I am not a pro yet so call me nii-san instead."

"But sensei is sensei." They insisted with a pout.

Isumi's eyes widened, "They're your students?"

He blinked at him, "Ah…"

Ai-chan and Takeshi-kun nodded eagerly, "Uhm! We're Hikaru-sensei's student! And Akira-sensei's too, but Akira-sensei is…" Ai-chan would have continued babbling if not for Shindou's hand covering her mouth.

"Okay… I am glad you guys aren't nervous about this exam, but drink your juice now before you get called…"

They drank it obediently.

Isumi knew he should rush to his study session but he didn't find it in him to tear his eyes away from Shindou and the two children. How Shindou fussed like a mother hen over them.

Shinoda-sensei chose that moment to step out, "Isumi-kun… and Shindou-kun too."

"Sensei." Isumi gave the Insei's master curt nod. "Konichiwa."

"Konichiwa, Shinoda-sensei…" Shindou greeted politely.

Shinoda eyed the children, "Uhm… Ayuzawa Ai, you're up next…"

"Hai!"

His eyes returned to Shindou, "By the way… Shindou-kun, are you a relative of hers?"

"No, but…"

"He is my sensei." Ai-chan chirped, "And Takeshi-kun's too!"

Shindou groaned. "Uhm… I just tutor her at my house every week… we have a weekly study session ha ha ha…"

In short she was indeed your student.

"Shindou-kun, you have students?" Shindoda-sensei looked surprised. "Well… you're doing very well in exam, and if you pass you will be a good teacher considering you have experience."

"Well… I…" Shindou trailed off nervously.

Isumi wondered what Waya would think if he knew that Shindou had student, a little younger than Fukui and was going to be an insei. For Shindou to be able to produce a student on Insei level…

"Isumi-san?"

Isumi was snapped out of his thought when he realized he was spacing out when he was helping Shindou to get to the waiting room while his students were taking the exam.

"Ah… I am sorry Shindou, I was distracted…"

Shindou smiled at him and then said. "Is it about our upcoming match?"

Isumi tensed when he recalled that this weekend was the dreaded one, when he was going to play Touya and Shindou. "Well I…"

"I wonder…" Shindou mused, "I don't think I can say anything along the line of please don't get intimidated by our strength without making it sound arrogant."

"Ah…"

Shindou sighed loudly. "At any rate… at this point there's no advice I can offer."

Isumi shook his head, "Shindou-kun, you're my rival… everyone's in exam. You're not supposes to offer me any."

"Perhaps… that's true." Shindou concurred. "But you see… I am not playing Go just to win… not just for fun either… or career even…"

Isumi was very tempted to ask what Shindou meant by that but he found himself clamping his mouth shut.

* * *

**Saturday, Pro Exam **

Akira was playing Isumi-san today and even though Hikaru saw calmness in his expression, there was some sort of tenseness in Isumi-san's body language. They were just about halfway through the exam but he and Akira were becoming some sort of bogeyman for other examinees. Like it was inevitable to lose against them, and Hikaru guessed majority of them was already marking two losses in their mental record.

Well, he was not feeling bad about it because as Akira said, it was not their fault if their opponents lose before the game began. Go was a mental game, so it was a huge mistake to be intimidated by your opponent.

He recalled he was playing Nase again today, and he could _see 'I will do my best even though I know I am going to lose anyway' _all over her face. It would be better if she play her best with winning in mind, not admitting she was going to lose. With the way she played, Hikaru should play a teaching game instead but it was not inappropriate for a pro exam.

"Your guidance please."

"Your guidance please." Nase echoed.

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Nase was taking her sweet time playing this game, Hikaru mused.

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At least she was not intimidated by him, but she was too relaxed. She was pretty serious of course but she played with a mindset of inevitable lose. He knew there was a sizeable gap in their skills but…

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It was good change of pace though; at least he had an opponent who enjoyed the game for once without him trying to make it fun and challenging. Akira at first was appalled when he found out about this but of all people Akira was the one who understood him the best.

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Just like his master, he strived to create the best game and for that… he had to draw the best his opponent could offer no matter how weak they were. A one-sided dominating game was never aesthetically pleasing or meaningful for either side, and he refused to play such game if he could afford it.

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Nase stared at the board long and hard before she decided. "I have lost."

"Thank you for the game." He returned with a bow and a soft smile. _'Sai? Aniue?' _ After the game ended he noticed his mentor was two goban away from his, hovering around Akira's and Isumi-san's.

The female Go player finished tidying up her black stones so Hikaru rushed to gather his and returned it to the wooden container. Hikaru noticed she was looking at him and then to Isumi-san and Akira. Wordlessly both of them stood up and went to their friends. Most of the game was still going so they were careful to not disturb unfinished game.

Hikaru narrowed his eyes when he saw the game, as expected Akira was dominating but…

He didn't expect Isumi-san's Go to be so messy, he was going too far at some places, attacking hastily and carelessly. It was unlike him, Isumi-san's Go was a balanced play of offense and defense although most of the time Isumi-san favored defense. He was a strong player who in term of skill alone had qualification to be a pro but mentally, he was a wreck.

"Makemashita." Isumi-san bowed.

Looking at his record he should have a pretty good judgement skill and yet he resigned now even though he still had chance to work it out. Then again with his current mindset he won't be able to see that path. This person was going to play him tomorrow and to be honest he… he didn't want to play current Isumi-san at all… It reminded him about…

"Hikaru."

He was snapped out of his thought at Akira's voice and for a moment he felt very vulnerable when Akira's eyes were looking through him. "Yes?"

"I would like to discuss the game with Isumi-san." Akira informed him and Hikaru didn't miss the surprise that marred Isumi-san's face. "Go ahead and wait for me outside please…"

Hikaru sighed, "Okay…"

* * *

Akira waited Hikaru to be out of the room before he started gathering his stones, and Isumi-san undoubtedly was surprised because Akira said they were going to discuss the game.

"Well… there's nothing to discuss anyway." Isumi-san said with a sad smile on his face. "Well… I play horribly today."

Akira shook his head, "Isumi-san, to be honest I am not sure to label your Go as horrible today… and I am afraid it's for the best for me to not say anything."

Isumi-san gave him a mirthful smile that made Akira felt tired for some reason. "You don't have to be afraid you will offend my feeling."

"Whatever I say will affect your performance tomorrow." Akira said pointedly. "It was not a primary concern to me about the state of mind of my opponents." Not more than anyone in the room, "However… Hikaru cares very much, and if you're going to play him with the same mindset you played me just now… perhaps…"

"Perhaps…" Isumi-san echoed him hesitantly.

"If you believe you have no chance to win at all even before your game with him began…" Akira said in a whisper. "Perhaps you shouldn't…" Akira knew it sounded cruel but it was Hikaru who would get hurt even more than this person if tomorrow…

"You shouldn't play Hikaru at all…"

* * *

**It's late but it's an update!**

**At any rate... I want to write this for a long time but I keep forgetting it, for anonymous reviewer 'Guest' who could be anyone... please STOP posting the same review 'Please Update' over and over again. As I will update when I can and nothing can change it so don't bother. I don't mind simple review saying they like my story but at least it's an OPINION and a review about my fic not just a demand. Please be considerate to us fanfiction author, we're writing story because it's our passion so the least you could do is posting a sincere review to help us improving my story. **


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